The Greater Evil II : The Crimson Lotus
by Guillaume HJ
Summary: The dark side of Team Rocket has been defeated, and Ash is now free to continue his old journey. But just as he believe pokemon are creatures of good, there are those who believe otherwise...and who will fight and kill in the name of that belief...
1. Part I : Darkness and Light

Part 1 : Darkness and Light

Chapter 1 : Memories

The five trainers walked swiftly on the road that passed through the forest country between the towns of Olivine and Ecruteak. Although it was only late September and the weather was rather warm, leaves in all shades of red and gold covered the great expanses of trees on the two sides of the road. Misty, her long red hair flying in the wind, looked around at her companions. Ash was slightly ahead, eager to reach Ecruteak, and she knew his deep brown eyes were intent as he was probably considering how best to deal with the next gym leader. She sighed, not knowing what to do, how to deal with the changes that had come over her boyfriend.

Before, Ash had been slightly obsessive about collecting badges and becoming a pokemon master. Now, it was ten times worst - ever since the death of his mother, killed by a bullet that had been meant for him. Now, it seemed like becoming a pokemon master was the only thing worth doing that he could finds, his only reason to live on besides Misty herself. She was constantly at his side, making sure he was well, cheering and comforting when he was down, trying her very best to give him the hope he needed to go on. She did not want to loose him - they had come too close to loosing each other already, at Sprout Tower. Far, far too close. 

The way he had reacted when they had seen the ruined area where the tower once had stood was eloquent enough about how Ash felt about the matter. He has shivered, as if a gust of freezing wind was striking him, and him alone, then his knees had given way under him as Misty watched helplessly, rushing to help him. She had held the sobbing young man tightly, close to her as he wept, remembering what had happened there...how they had lost each other, and how they had come so close to never seeing each other again.

Turning her face slightly, she then looked at her twin brother, Damian, whose long dark hair flew in the wind, dark hairs that he had inherited from their father Giovanni, the once-time leader of Team Rocket. The young man looked strangely sad - he always did. Which was not in any way surprising considering that throughout his life he had barely been able to find a few persons who would not treat him as less than human, most of which where there with him. 

Besides him, holding his hand tightly in a reassuring manner, his girlfriend Elayne walked, determinate to make everything he had gone through in his life vanish, replaced by memories of happier times with them all. So far, she wasn't having much success, but she kept trying as best as she could. The good memories were there, but they simply would not erase the darker memories of being put to the side. Of being the one everyone hated, laughed at. Her golden-red hair made for a sharp contrast with Damian's dark hair.

The last member of their little group was walking slightly behind them all. Gary had long since abandoned his carefully spiked hair to instead let them fall in a long dark cascade that covered his shoulders, held behind his head by a leather cord. The wool cloak he insisted on wearing was sent flying behind him by the strong wind, and the hood was, as always, pulled back. His recently evolved Umbreon walked at his side, her night-black head looking warily around them. Ash, similarly, was being flanked on his right by his houndour, whom he had rescued from a swarm of totodile before leaving Pallet to travel in the land of Johto, while Pikachu of course stood on his shoulder. Misty herself had no pokemon out, and neither had Damian or Elayne.

According to Gary's map, they were getting very close to Ecruteak, in fact they should be reaching it any moment. Which might be, she silently admitted, another reason why Ash was walking ahead - so as to see Ecruteak first and be able to help her face the town she had once destroyed as Shadow the year before. What they had heard was that reconstruction was going well and that the city would soon be just as good as it had been back before she had come as Shadow, but still, there was no way for her to shake off the feeling of guilt that struck her whenever she thought of it. 

To see the actual town would be a harsh, very harsh test of her will and of how much she had forgiven herself for what had happened during her time as Shadow.

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Ash sighed as he topped the rise and saw Ecruteak just past it. He had known they would soon reach it, known that Misty would have to face what had happened here, and known that he would need to be there for her as they reached the town. He looked behind, and saw that she was still far from reaching the rise, he slowly walked back down toward her. She was all that he had, and there was just no way he would let her get hurt. 

"That's it?" she asked him softly as he joined her and took her hand in his.

"Yeah..." he answered, smiling encouragingly at her. He let go of her hand and wrapped his left arms tightly around her shoulders as they walked up the hill. With each step they took, he felt her body tensing further, as if she was readying herself for the shock.

For the return to the past she wanted to put behind her.

When they topped the rise again, the city of Ecruteak waited for them on the other side. It had been rebuilt, certainly. Houses were everywhere, modern houses, and with tall glass towers sprouting up everywhere to replace those that Shadow had taken down a year earlier. It had been rebuilt, but it wasn't the same Ecruteak that had been there before that. It was a Ecruteak that had, except for the two towers slightly to the north of the town, lost all traces of its identity.

Misty's body started to shake as they reached the town, just like a willow in the middle of a fierce storm. He pulled her closer to him, holding her tightly as he hoped to push away the undeserved guilt with love. Damian looked at them both sadly. Of coure, he and Elayne had been told about the events that had lead to Shadow appearing at Ecruteak, and Misty's return in Olivine, thus he knew what she was weeping about.

He held the sobbing girl who had become the center of his life tighter as more tears rand down her cheeks to fall on his shoulders, making his shirt wet and uncomfortable, but he certainly did not mind about that. There was no way something as little as a wet shirt would bother him when he was trying to comfort Misty - his Misty.

"Shhhhh. Shhhh. It's all right." He told her softly, a whisper in her ear. She did not answer, but the shaking and weeping subsided a little as she clung to him fiercely. For a long time they stood together, his arms tightly wrapped around her as her tear-streaked face rested on his shoulder. The sun, which had been high in the sky when they had reached the rise was now lowering rapidly toward the west, bringing a fiery sunset in the sky, the cerulean of heaven slowly being replaced by the gold, the crimson and the night-like purple of the dying sun.

She slowly raised her head again, looking at him in the eyes. Hers were red from the weeping, but still, they were shining, perhaps because the water of her tears that was still there caught the light of the half-gone sun and reflected it, perhaps for other reasons. She smiled at him, a thin, sad smile, but a smile none the less. 

"Thank you Ash." She whispered softly. "I love you." She added the few words that meant so much to him.

"It's nothing." He answered just as softly. "I love you too." He smiled as some of the sadness that remained in her tear-streaked face vanished. "And I'd do anything for you." He told her, knowing that even though many would have taken the words to be only an expression, a simple way of saying how much he loved her, in his case it was the absolute truth. He would do anything, give anything for her sake, even die, even renounce to all his other dreams.

"I don't know how you can love me after that..." She answered pointing at the city ahead. "But...nothing ever made me happier than being with you Ash. The last year...it's been such a wonderful time..." her words were soft. 

"I know." He smiled, feeling very much the same, despite his mother dying.. Misty's love had seemed to open a new world of feeling to him, a world that he had never suspected could even exists. A world where nothing could touch him, as he was safely sheltered in her love.

Hands in hands, they walked down toward Ecruteak, and toward the pokemon center there to wait for the night.

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The sky was cloudy as they woke up the next morning, the clear blue horizon of the previous day having been replaced by a blank gray roof that covered all that was above them. There was no rain falling, but the wind howled through the trees with fierce strength, a sound like none other on earth.

As Ash and his companions, save Gary who was not up yet, as he had returned to the pokemon center later than them the day before, taking the time to challenge the local gym leader first; gathered in the main area of the pokemon center, he saw a young man sitting at a table, his face lost in thought. Somehow, the young man looked extremely familiar, as if they had met each other before. He tried to summon the memories of the specific event, but none came despite all of his efforts.

The man looked up as he heard them, watching each of them in turn, and his face subtly changed as he saw Ash and Misty, from blank disinterest to half-recognition, confirming to Ash that they had met before. The man had a pokeball attached to his belt, Ash noticed as he took a closer look at him, trying still without success to identify him.

"Bill?" the voice of Gary suddenly asked from the door, and Ash turned to see his friend stepping in.

"What?" The man asked as Ash finally recognized the young researcher he had met at the beginning of his journey. "You're Samuel's grandson, aren't you?" he asked Gary as he recognized him.

"Yeah, that's me. But what are you doing here?" Gary asked right back. "Last I heard you were still working in that lighthouse..."

"I just came here to oversee the installation of their new pokemon equipment. It's the latest, state-of-the-art scanning device and all that. They wanted someone who knew the stuff to help them." He smiled. He looked at the pokemon walking around Gary's feet. "I see that Eevee I sent for your grandfather to give you evolved." He smiled again.

"Yeah, I never got to thank you for that." Gary smiled back. "Thanks."

"Hey, I should be the one thanking you for taking care of it!" Bill told him. "You must have done a pretty good job to get him to evolve in Umbreon." He suddenly snapped his fingers as if he was remembering something. "Hey, I got that Eevee here...I caught the poor things chewing on the cables in the center...I don't guess you happen to have a free spot of your team?" he asked Gary suddenly.

"Nope, but Ash does." Ash smiled as his friend mentioned him. "He had most of his pokemon stolen away a while ago...he has five now, which means he still have a free spot..." Gary explained.

"Ash...aren't you that trainer that was there when I finally managed to see that pokemon?" he asked, finally remembering where he had met the young man before. Ash nodded. "Think you can take good care of that Eevee?" he added. Ash nodded again, and Gary did so as well. Bill took the pokeball he had been playing with and handed it over to Ash. "Take care of it Ash." He smiled again, then looked at his watch. "I have to go though...bye!" he said quickly as he rose and left toward the probably uncompleted treatment area of the center.

"What next?" Misty asked him.

"I'm going to the gym." He smiled at her, knowing she had expected the answer. "And as soon as I have my badge, we're out of here." He added, Misty smiled gratefully at him. Even though she had apparently been able to face what she had been forced to do as Shadow and to put it behind her, it was quite obvious her memories of Ectruteak would keep it from becoming a place on her list of favorite location spots.

As it turned out, the local gym was quite close to the pokemon center, and they reached it in no time. As Ash was getting ready to enter the gym, he turned toward his friends. "I know that guy uses ghost types...any tips on how to fight against those?" he asked them.

"Psychic attacks." Gary suggested. "Or Dark attacks. Umbreon won me the day." He smiled. "Your Eevee should know bite, if nothing else, and bite somehow works against Ghost."

"Aren't ghosts immune to psychic powers though?" Misty protested.

"Depend. Remember what Sabraina told you? She's have a hard time against ghosts, but Danea wouldn't." he smiled. "I'm not going to tell you anything more, so don't try to ask."

Ash smiled as he remembered the particular quote he guessed Gary was referring too, the one about the two sides of psychic powers. From his experience and what Gary had just told him, he could only assume that while ghosts were immune to the mind-warping power of psychic and psychic pokemon, they where in turn weak to the direct offensive powers that warped psychic energy in beams and blasts.

He stepped in the gym. According to the old pictures he had seen, the gym had been a dark, slightly spooky place where the trainers had to face their own fear - of the dark, of bugs or of ghosts, among others. Now, it was a modern, bland building, though he wasn't planning to mention that to Misty. A young man with yellow hair walked in through the opposite door.

"Are you here for a badge?" he asked.

"Yes." Ash answered simply, his voice unwavering. The young man had a strange...aura...around him that Ash suspected would have struck fear in the heart of even the bravest, but somehow he wasn't afraid.

"I'm the gym leader, Morty." He presented himself. "Two on two, no time limit?" he asked.

"Fine with me." Ash nodded. 

"I'll choose my pokemon first..." Morty told him, looking at him with an eerie smile. He picked one of his pokeball and threw it to the ground, revealing a floating shape that Ash knew well. "Haunter! I choose you!" the gym leader said as his ghost appeared.

"Right...in that case...Go! Houndour!" he smiled as the fire dog appeared in the middle of the field.

"Interesting choice." Morty smiled. "Haunter! Night Shade!" he ordered.

"Houndour! Faint Attack, then try to bite it!" he ordered back.

The Haunter summoned a wave of darkness that wrapped around them like a cloak of eternal night, weakening the houndour as it did so, but unfortunately, the little fire pokemon was able to take advantage of the wave of darkness to hide in the shadow of the fighting area. 

The Haunter looked around, as it couldn't see its opponent anymore, and seemed on the verge of firing another attack when suddenly the houndour jumped out of nowhere to close his jaws around the shape of the ghost. Normally, any attack like that would have failed to hit the Haunter, but the dark energy that flowed through the flesh and blood of the Houndour somehow enabled it to strike at its opponent, as if the touch of darkness made the ghost loose it's gaseous aspect.

As the Haunter whirled to face its opponent, it fired a massive orb of shadow, not that different from those Shadow had wielded during her fight with Danea. The orb aimed straight for the poor Houndour who tried to dodge desperately, but simply could not move out of the way in time. He yelled in pain, then fell to the ground, defeated. Ash stamped his foot on the ground in frustration, realizing he could not afford any more mistakes now. He picked up another pokeball, hoping to rely on agility rather than type advantage to win.

"Abra! I choose you!" he ordered. The psychic pokemon appeared in the middle of the field and looked at the Haunter, not very impressed by what she saw.

"Abra, put up a reflect wall behind you." He ordered calmly. With that one pokemon, there was no need to yell or panic. He had just an idea of how to defeat Morty and his ghost types, and he knew it would work. The psychic pokemon formed up a shining mirror straight behind him while Morty looked at him curiously. 

"A psychic against a ghost?" he asked. "That might have been a mistake." He commented.

"You'll see." Ash smiled back.

"True. Haunter! Shadow Ball!" he ordered, and the haunter prepared to launch another of those ball of shadow. Abra turned toward Ash, looking at him from the corner of her eyes. He gave her a tiny nod, barely visible to anyone who wasn't looking for it.

The dark ball of shadow came closer to Abra, who looked at it impassively. Each passing second seemed to be an eternity as Ash prayed that his pokemon would time her move well, else it had all been a waste of time at best, and at worst he had lost the match.

The ball came closer, and it was probably close enough for Abra to feel the crackling energy around it as it came a few centimeters away from her. The movement of the ball was fast, it had barely been five seconds since the Haunter had fired it, but to Ash, it was an eternity.

Suddenly, just as the ball was about to hit her, Abra vanished from sight and everything seemed to go ball to normal speed as the ball was reflected off the mirror the psychic pokemon had set toward the helpless haunter. Behind the ghost pokemon, Abra appeared again, smirking as the shadow ball struck her opponent, sending it floating down. With a sigh, Morty recalled his Haunter. The mirror, damaged by the blast, suddenly bust in a thousand shard, one of which seemed to caught the light especially as it flew toward Abra.

And as it struck, the little pokemon started to glow as a spoon made of the pure crystal of the mirror appeared. Soon, where the small Abra had stood, a quite taller Kadabra was, holding the crystal spoon, looking at it calmly. Ash shouted in joy as he saw that his pokemon had just evolved, and barely even daring to imagine the power of his new pokemon. He remembered his battle at the Saffron Gym, and how powerful Sabrina's Kadabra had been. And now, he had one of his own. On the other hand, his hauter had been immune to the powers of her Kadabra, thus he had to be careful.

Morty picked one of his pokeball. "Gengar! I choose you!" he murmured as he released the pokemon. Ash watched the new opponent. It was definitely a stronger enemy than Haunter had been, and its ability to shift from gaseous to solid form gave it a solid advantage...But on the other hand, it could also be used to great effectiveness, if he planned his moves carefully

"Gengar! Hypnosis!" Morty ordered.

"Kadabra! Close your eyes!" Ash countered, just in time as the hypnotic waves nearly caught Kadabra.

"_Thank you master. That was a timely warning_" The soft, feminine voice came out of nowhere, and spoke through his mind. Ash could only assume that the owner was his Kadabra. He smiled. Morty, on the other hand, was not smiling.

"Kadabra! Psybeam on that Gengar!" Ash ordered, and watched as his pokemon sent out the beam of psychic energy straight toward the ghost, who simply phased in its solid shape, dropping to the ground as it did so. Ash smiled, it was exactly the move he had anticipated.

"Bombs away!" he yelled and as Morty watched him as if he had suddenly become mad, he concentrated very hard on the move idea he had come up with. 

"_I see what you mean. Good idea Ash._" the voice finally came as Kadabra managed to read the idea from his mind. She curled up in a ball, and suddenly teleported to just above the Gengar who was standing on the ground, just as confused as his master.

With no time to get out of the way, the Gengar did the only thing that could lessen the blow for him, he phased back to his ethereal form. Which, again, was exactly what Ash had been gambling on. "Kadabra! PSYCHIC!" he yelled, and an eerie light filled the room as the eyes of the little pokemon glowed blue. The Gengar's body writhed in pain as waves of psychic energy coursed through its entire ethereal being, devastating it with deadly effectiveness. With a weary sigh, Morty recalled his pokemon and jumped down on the field, holding a small badge for Ash to take. Ash joined him.

"That was a good trick you used. I didn't expect that." He congratulated him.

"Thanks." Ash replied, taking the badge from his hand. 

"Well, anyway. Here's your fog badge." He sighed. "Have fun while you are traveling...those will probably be the funniest years of your life." He said sadly. "I wish I could still travel like you do but, well..." he shrugged. 

Ash slowly left the gym, reflecting on what Morty had just said.

Chapter 2 : Jormungand

Five days was what it took for them to cover the distance between Ecruteak and Mahogany, through a land of rolling hills, raging rivers, calm lake, rushing streams, high peaks covered in eternal snows shining in the distance, and red and gold trees covering the country on both sides of the road. They all admired the splendor of nature as they walked on the long stretch of packed dirt that was at the side of the equally long stretch of asphalt that served as a path for the cars.

On the night of the fourth day, they were all gathered around a campfire in a small forest clearing not far from the road. They were talking about the many things they had seen so far in their travels through Johto, and the numerous wonders they had hears about. It appeared, from what they were told, that Blackthorn, the town of the eight gym, was a real thing to see.

"Though that's easy to understand. There isn't a single town in all of Johto or Kanto - standing, anyway - that ever had even half as much importance as Blackthorn has for a few thousand years." He stated. 

"Really?" Elayne asked curiously.

"Yeah...I'm not going to bore you to death with all the details, but for starters, Blackthorn was one of the first four town in all of Johto and Kanto, along with Alph in the mountains, Pokepolis in the general vicinity of Pallet, and Fuschia. Of course, as things usually happens, those town extended, and eventually became empire..."

For the next few hours, Ash did not really notice the time passing by as he listened to the tale of power, glory and betrayal that was the tale of Blackthorn, which had been the capital of an empire that had lasted for many thousand centuries. Indigo, the capital of Kanto, had for long been nothing more than a trade outpost of Blackthorn. The empire that had risen from the humbles beginnings of a simple city in the mountains had, at one point, extended all the lands west of the gulf of Vermillion and east of Olivine and Cianwood, ranging south from Cinnabar to Mahogany, Ecruteak and Blackthorn in the north. Pewter had been nothing more than a mining town of the empire, and Viridian a mere farming village in the middle of the valley. The only power in all the word that had existed that had even a chance of rivaling with Blackthorn, though a small chance at that, had been Fuschia. Lavender, Saffron, Vermilion and Celadon had all belonged to the Fuschians, and Cerulean had been a free city, a center of trade between the two rival empires.

But invaders from the west had come. Their origin was from further west than Johto, and they had worn steel armor, carrying great sword, fighting in the name of an alien god to bring his dominion to the world. Their banner, against the beautiful flower-adorned banners of the cities of Blackthorn and Fuschia had been drab white banners with small red crux on them that they claimed was the sign of their true faith. Against their fanaticism, Jhoto and Kanto had fallen, taken by the strength of those men. 

"It was about five hundred years later that they got pushed out at the time at which pokemon trainers started to appear...and that's quite another story." Damian finished, looking at them all. "Maybe I'll tell you about it another time, but now we should get some sleep if we want to reach that town anytime before next year." He pointed out.

Before they all moved to their sleeping bag again however, Misty brought up a suggestion that obviously she had been thinking about for a few days.

"What would you guys say to the idea of taking a few days off around lake Rage once we get in that vicinity?" she asked them. "I feel like taking some time off after Ecruteak, and, well...I heard the scenery was great, too." She explained her idea. 

Although he wanted to move as fast as he could to collect his badges, Ash could not help but agree with Misty about the idea. She definitely had used up a great deal of mental strength during their visit to Ecruteak, and she deserved to be given some time to relax. Besides which, he had heard of the numerous great pokemon that could be caught in the vicinity of lake Rage, and he even though he wanted to collect his badges as soon as possible, there was no point in waiting for two months before the league championship begin.

"Anything for you dear." He smiled and moved closer to her. She smiled back at him.

"Why not?" Damian added.

"That wouldn't be a bad idea at all." Elayne smiled, looking at Damian.

"Oh, well." Gary shrugged. "Why not? It's not like we're in a hurry..." He sounded more hesitant about the idea than Ash himself was, or than any of the others for that matter, but not too badly about it.

They went to sleep on the ground, arrayed in a circle around the dying embers of their fire, their sleeping bags the only source of warmth that each of them had. 

____________________________

Damian was first to wake up the next morning, looking at them all as he did so. His twin sister, the one person he trusted so much was stirring in her sleep, as if haunted by some strange nightmares, which would not be very surprising considering all that she had gone through. Ash, on the other hand, seemed perfectly calm as he slept, his Pikachu sleeping near him. The young man was a constant puzzle to Damian, as he was about the first boy to try to befriend him rather than insult him. Though Damian half-suspected that this was more for Misty's sake than for any other reason, he still could not help but think that Ash was a good man. After all that Misty had gone through, she definitely deserved to have someone who cared for her like that with him. 

Gary was a mystery to Damian, one of those person that no matter how hard he tried to understand, he couldn't even begin to comprehend. Though he seemed to be driven by the same dream that pushed Ash forward, he apparently was more running away from something than running toward a goal. Of course, Damian had heard about what had happened at the mill, but it only seemed to be a small part of what Gary was running from. And then, there was the mystery of what he had done in the streets of Pallet, his display of power he had heard off, but never seen before. Gary was much too young to be a full Kai master, unless he had started training around five, which barely seemed possible, especially with so few Kai Masters being in Kanto and Jhoto in the first place. But the mystery remained complete. If Gary was no Kai Master, how did he manage to have the same power as any of them?

And, of course, Elayne was a constant source of wonder for the young man who watched her as she slept calmly, her wealth of golden hair covering her shoulders. He was always awed by the fact that such a great, such a beautiful girl had fallen in love with him of all people, and that they had now been together for a year.

Her brown eyes opened, revealed to the world, and she turned toward him, a soft smile on her lips. She slowly rose, pushing away the sleeping bag and walking toward him to put her arms around his waist and hold him tightly.

"You're up early." He commented, smiling.

"So are you." She answered, an identical smile playing on her own lips.

They held each other, secure in the tight embrace until the other rose, at which point they sadly let go to help the others prepare for leaving the camp.

They reached Mahogany later that afternoon, and found the town filled with activity, even more than any other town they had been to. Wondering what was happening to cause such a stir in the city, Damian turned toward someone who wasn't actually running around.

"Excuse me, could you tell me what's happening?" he asked politely.

"Oh, that. It's just one of the worst case of gullibility-induced mass panic you'll ever see." The strange middle-aged man answered, tossing his long gray hair.

"What?" Ash asked, his face blank with uncomprehension.

"There's a red gyarados that appears from time to time at Lake Rage. Those idiots think - every time it happens - that it means the magikarp of the lake are angry at Mahogany and will make us all pay. Since it was sighted again, they are panicking."

"A *red* Gyarados?" Gary asked, and his face was painted with surprise. "I thought they were all blue..."

"Apparently that one is special, but I have no idea what it is that it has that makes it red instead of blue. People here have been calling it Goldenfang because of how its scales seems to sparkle, or else Bloodfang because of the color."

"Goldenfang..." The name was definitely familiar to Damian, though he could not afford to let that show. Idly, he wondered if it was the same pokemon that had been given that nickname, eons ago. Probably, as it was a known fact that the others were still the same that had fought a thousand year ago.

"Is there something wrong?" Misty asked him, her voice full of concern.

"No, no. I'm all right." 

__

If they are starting to reappear...then, it's for soon...too soon...the nines are not ready...I'm not ready...or am I?

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Ash wondered what they were talking about, then shrugged it off. If there was something at Lake Ika, he would know soon enough. Watching the strange behavior of the citizens of Mahogany still, they headed toward the northern road out of town, the one that led to Lake Rage.

It was in the late afternoon that they finally reached Lake Rage and there saw a stunning display of beauty as the jewel of northern Johto was revealed before their eyes. The only road that led to the lake came in from the south-east, as the mountains and Rage river blocked off any other possible path. Thus, as they reached the shores of the lake, they saw the sparkling water, colored like a sapphire close to them, and further off, as it reflected the light of the slowly lowering sun, the color of gold. The leaves of the thousands of trees untouched by the hand of man for eons were of all shades of red and gold, and they moved softly in the wind. On the other side of the lake, the stark gray ,snow-capped Mount Mortar stood, daring any human to climb up it.

As the sun slowly sank behind the mountain, the red and gold of the leaves seamed to spread to the surrounding world, first the lake, then the entire air seemed to be filled with the magnificent glow of the departing sun. Ash watched the whole display in stunned amazement. The few clouds that floated leisurely in the sky had been darkened by the falling sun, to the point that they were now the color of grape.

"It's...beautiful..."he whispered as he slowly wrapped his arm around Misty's waist.

"Yes...so beautiful..." she answered, slowly dropping her head on his shoulder, putting her arm on his other shoulder. He smiled as he held her tightly, bathed by the strange, eerie glow.

They worked quickly and managed to install their campground in the light of the falling sun, before it went out entirely. Gary, surprisingly, had appeared as being quite good as a cook, though nowhere near as good as Brock. Thus it was him again who prepared the dinner, without any squabbles about whose turn it was. Ash smiled. Those squabbles, they all knew, were pointless as the results were usually that the one having asked whose turn it was usually ended up being the one cooking.

After eating, they all quickly headed for their bed, not noticing the boat on the lake, or the hooded woman inside it.

When Ash woke up again later that night, he wondered what it was that had caused him to wake up. To be sure, he was no longer sleeping in his sleeping bag back at the camp, as he could feel the rush of air on his naked hands and feet. As he tried to come up with an explanation, he tried to move his hand from where it was, behind his back, but realized it was restrained. Before he could even begin to wonder what was happening, something hit the boat hard, and he lost consciousness. Thus, he did not see the woman who had taken him away using psychic powers to teleport herself off the sinking boat.

__________________________________

The creature extended his slender neck to get a better look at the young man that now rested in his cave, deep under the lake. He was still unconscious, that was easy to recognize, and in a way, good news. At least, he was not dead, which would have been a disaster. But he was also trapped under the lake, with no way back out.

__

He must not die. 

That much was obvious, there was no way that he could be allowed to die or stay here forever, he had too much to do yet to allow that. But there was also no way that the creature could see of taking the human back to the surface of the lake without him waking up and without him drowning...

And then it was too late to make a choice that would have involved the human remaining unconscious, as the small creature woke up. Lowering his enormous head , the creature waited for the shock of the meeting.

As the human opened his eyes, he, of course, screamed, a loud scream of panic triggered by the sight of an enormous red-headed creature staring at him from a few feet away. A red-headed creature with glistening white fangs and dark, seemingly malevolent eyes, a creature that seemed like an enormous snake as his segmented, scale-covered body wormed across the room, defying the imagination with its length. 

"What...what are you...Where am I?" he asked, his voice filled with utter panic.

__

"The only name I care for is that of Jormungand." The beast answered, sending the answer right back in the young man's mind. "_And you are in my cave._"

The young man seemed to slowly recover as the gentle telepathic voice of the beast spoke right in his mind. He stood up slowly, his legs weak from the fall in the water, the deep plunge in the depths of the lake that had taken him there.

"So you are that Goldenfang, uh?" he asked slowly.

"_That is the name the humans give me. They sight me from afar, very far, and they think I am a Gyarados._" The beast replied slowly, the frustration at being considered the same as one of those mindless, ferocious, cruel beast barely kept out of his voice. "_They simply don't know how different I am from a Gyarados My only true name is Jormungand_" the tone of finality in the "voice" was clear.

"If you say so" The human shrugged. "You sure don't look like any Gyarados I ever met." He commented. 

"_I am not one_" Jormungand pointed out, his voice slightly tinged with exasperation. 

"I know that, you already told me." The young human replied. "But I don't know...I feel like...I have to know more about you. I usually feel that way about pokemon, but it's stronger when it comes to you in particular." He explained.

"_I am a million years old, human. There is more to tell about me than about all other pokemon except the others who were created with me. There is no way I could tell you all of that in a single night. Now, you need to get back to the surface - to your world, and out of mine._"

Summoning forth his powers, the great wyrm crafted a ward of air all around the young man who moved his hand curiously, exploring wonderingly the confine of the shimmering prison. With a weary sigh, Jormungand picked up the ball of air in his enormous mouth, and, slithering in the water, made his way through the surface and the coast. In the camp where the young human and his friends had installed themselves in, they were all still asleep, has the sun had not yet begun to stir in the east. Slowly, Jormungand left the ball of air float down to the ground, where the young man, still looking with very much curiosity at the great beast, walked to his sleeping bag, removing his wet pajama and putting another one on. As he drifted off to sleep, Jormungand sighed, calling upon his power again.

Soon, he was gone, leaving only a single golden scale on the ground, a tiny scale that shone fiercely under the light of the moon.

Chapter 3 : Soul of the Past

Misty rose with the sun on the next morning, her red hair falling loosely over her shoulders, and she quickly went to a spot in the forest where she could change in her clothes without anyone seeing her. She quickly pulled down her pajama, then started putting on her clothes, reflecting on how much her clothing style had changed after the Rocket disaster, and her and Ash openly admitting they loved each other. Her blue jeans short had given way, steadily becoming longer until now most of the time she wore long blue jeans, and her yellow tank-top was gone as well. She still wore tank-top from time to time, but they were simply no longer the only top she would wear, as she more often than not wore the aqua-colored short-sleeved shirts Danea had helped her choose. As she walked back in the camp, she watched the sun rising in the east, partially hidden by the trees which were on their side of the lake. Turning toward Ash with a long, loving gaze, she noticed the heap of clothes that was near him, and wondered what it was. She picked some of the clothes up, and immediately realized that it was Ash's pajama, dripping with water. She looked at the young man curiously, wondering what kind of things he could have done that would have gotten his pajama all wet like that.

"I wonder what happened..."she whispered softly to herself. 

Suddenly, something in the sand by the beach caught her eyes, a single golden object shining from the fire of the sun that as reflected of it. She quickly went there, and picked up the object, observing it closely. It seemed made of pure gold, and caught the light of the sun, as she had already noticed. It fits in the palm of her hand, and as she looked at it, she slowly realized that it was the scale of some sort of pokemon, though it didn't match any pokemon she knew.

She turned toward the handsome figure asleep on the ground and watched as he slowly stirred, waking up under her loving gaze. His eyes met hers, and there was a warm glow in them as they smiled at each other. Ash slowly rose, and, still in pajama, walked up to her to hugs her tightly.

"Good morning Ash." She told him softly. 

"Good morning Misty." He answered just as softly. Where the words they traded seemed blank, they carried within them a wealth of emotions and feelings, a sense of love greater than anything. "How are you?" He asked her, his voice warm with love.

"I'm great - I'm with you." Her soft answer was full of peace and contentment. "You?" she looked at him, at his shining eyes. 

"Do you really need to ask? I'm with you." He replied, letting the needless "great" out of his answer. They both knew what they meant by "I'm with you", and there was no need for either of them to explain it.

From the corner of her eyes, she noticed the others slowly waking up as she lightly kissed Ash. "I think you should go and change now my love." She told him softly. Ash nodded and slowly walked away from her. As he walked away, she remembered the strange scale and went back to observing it. The others in turn went away to change in their clothes, as she continued gazing at the mysterious object. Ash was the first to come back, wearing his black shirt and blue jeans. He had stopped wearing a blue vest over his shirt a long time ago, and he actually was not wearing his pokemon league hat either. It was another of those thing he did less and less that they had not yet really talked about. She shrugged, it was probably nothing more than change, the same reason why she had completely changed her clothing style and was now letting her hair down instead of wearing it in a ponytail as she used to do.

She suddenly remembered the wet heap of his pajama, and turned toward him. "What happened to you Ash?" she asked him. "And to your pajama?" she added. "Did you fall in the water or what?" she smiled at him as she said so. 

He hesitated before answering, thinking about what he was going to say for a long time.

"Kinda. It was weird." He started as the others, Gary and Damian first then Elayne walked back in. "Let's see...in the middle of the night, I woke up in a boat..." he started, as they looked at him with disbelieving frowns. "And then there was something that caused the boat to start sinking...I think it knocked me out too, because the next thing I remember is waking up in a cave." He took a deep breath. "With a big, very big beast staring at me." He added. "Anyway, I woke up, talked with the beast - seems like he can do some telepathy - and he took me back to the surface."

"Don't you have any more details about that beast?" Damian asked him, his face oddly intent.

"It was big. As long as a few Gyarados together..." he answered. "Completely golden, with a weird head...looked kinda like a charizard head, but with a few differences. Much larger, for one thing." He described the beast he had encountered the previous night as Misty listened, completely amazed by what she was hearing.

"And what did it tells you?" Gary suddenly asked. For some reason Misty couldn't even begin to fathom, his eyes had taken the same kind of intent look that was in Damian's eyes. For that matter, she had no idea why Damian was acting like that either. They both seemed to know something that no one else among them knew.

"A few things about me having to go back...oh. he told me his name, too."

"Really?" Damian obviously wanted to know more.

"Yeah...Jormungand or some such, I think it said." Ash looked at him.

"Jormungand...so, he is still alive. After all those years." The voice that came from Gary's lips was definitely not Gary's. It was, for one thing, softer that Gary's voice, and with a definitely different accent to it. Gary spoke the same way they did, usually, but the voice was heavily accented, an accent that Misty had heard a few times before but could not remember.

______________________________

Damian looked closely at Gary as he spoke, and it almost seemed as if through Gary's familiar face, he could see the outline of another face, one that seemed made of smoke. The face of a woman, a Hoshoan woman, to be precise. Suddenly, he remembered the old tales he had heard about the prophecies and the heroes that had brought them to their successful conclusion. 

__

Tomoyo...I've been a fool not to realize it earlier...she wouldn't have wanted to let Akira's heir alone. his mind reeled at the thought of what she had done just to be here. Of course, he knew who Akira's heir was, there was no doubt about it. That one line was easy to trace, from Akira to Ash, with Ash's father being there along the way. And of course, knowing that Oak was simply the western form of Tomoyo's last name, it was easy - should have been easy to understand. 

__

And Jormungand is back already...he came back a bit early, but then...I guess he wanted to set things in motions. He tried not to think too much about how hard the soul-splitting had to be on Gary, and how blind he had been not to notice earlier. Gary's protectiveness of Ash was quite easier to understand, with Tomoyo being around once again, and so was the way he seemed to worry about Ash so much. 

He rose, realizing that before he started explaining about Jormungand, he had to do a few things, specifically, check a few facts at the Mahogany library, though he had no intent of talking to the others about that just yet. It was nowhere near the Blackthorn or Saffron library in size, but it would have to do for now. No matter if the library was large enough of not, though, it was quite obvious that he'd have to wait until they went back there before he checked anything.

"I need to do a few things." He told them. "Gary, could you come with me?" he asked him. Gary rose, looking at him curiously. 

"Why not?" he answered, coming closer to Damian.

"We'll be back later today!" He told the other as he raced away, Gary following him.

"So. I take it you recognized me." The soft voice spoke as soon as they were away from the camp.

"I should have recognized you earlier Tomoyo." He answered. "I should have known what was driving Gary toward Ash like that...it took me almost a year to identify you." He told her, feeling ashamed at his failure to do so.

"I know how to conceal myself Damian. Even from you." The young woman who spoke through Gary's lip answered. "Until now, only Gary knew I was in him. And he's been doing a very good job of hiding it" She added. It was definitely easier for Damian to think of the person resulting from Tomoyo's soul taking over as a woman than thinking of that person as a man whose body was taken over by the soul of a dead woman. "And history's repeating itself again." She shook her head slowly. "There was another girl who got Akira, and now Misty got Ash." A few bitter tears fell from her eyes. 

Damian took a sad look at Tomoyo - it was hard to think of her as such, and not as Gary, as she was in Gary's body. It was, in fact, quite a tragic story, of how Tomoyo had done everything to gain Akira's love, and had not been able to get it, and of how much she had loved him. And now, history was about to repeat itself, only made worst by the fact that she found herself in a man's body, which lessened further her chances of Ash, Akira's heir ever falling in love with her. He put an arm on his - her - shoulders and tried to comfort her. After a while, she managed to brush off the tears.

"There's one thing that puzzle me though..." Damian suddenly asked. "Why did you come back in that body? Why not his sister?" he asked her.

"I tried, but it didn't work...something kept me from being in her body." She answered softly. Her voice was not exactly that of a woman, forced as it was through the body of a man, but it was not that of a man either. "I think maybe she's one of them." She added. Damian simply nodded, as he himself wasn't too sure whether or not it was possible.

"I assume you know of your destiny Damian?" she asked sadly.

"Yes" he answered soberly, nodding slightly. He knew about that, alright.

"How many of them have you found?" 

"That I am sure of? One, and that's the obvious one."

"Ash." She answered softly. "He's so much like Akira was..." she shook her head sadly. "It just can't be someone else. Any others?"

"That I'm sure of ? None. I have a few suspicions, but nothing certain." He answered.

"As I told you, I'm pretty sure that Gary's sister - my sister - is one of them." She looked at him. "I'm afraid I can't help you much beyond that, though."

"I know. Finding the nine is my job Tomoyo. Not yours." He told her.

"Exactly what the seeker of last time around told me." She smiled. "And what about you? Are you ready?" she asked him referring to that one line in the prophecies he wasn't afraid off, but definitely preferred to forget, especially now that he had Elayne with him.

"I am. I guess...It's not like it's something I really need to be ready for." He answered, a faint touch of sadness in his voice. "It's not like I'll have to do anything. All I have to do is sit there..." he paused, and she looked at him. "Sit there, and let someone kill me. And the prophecies will be going just fine when that happens." His voice was slightly bitter.

She sighed, and he looked at her, realizing that barely a moment after he turned toward her, Tomoyo had withdrawn, leaving Gary in charge once again.

"She's not here anymore." He told him. 

"I know." He answered, his voice still holding a part of the bitterness that had been in it earlier.

________________________________

Ash looked around at the two girls who were with him, wondering what it was Gary and Damian had gone away to do.

"I really wonder what's up with Gary...he's starting to become that...that other Gary more and more often." He commented. "Softer voice, and a completely different outlook on life...It's so odd..." he shook his head.

"Yeah, I noticed too...and why do you think Damian suddenly had to leave after you mentioned Jormungand and Garry remembered him?" Elayne asked him.

"I don't have the smallest idea." Ash replied slowly.

"Neither do I." Misty added. "I've known Damian for a long while, and I've never seen him like that. I could say the same for Gary, though I didn't known him for as long when he started that, of course." She added.

"Yeah...that's odd...I've never seen Damian like that either." Elayne confirmed with a nod of her head. Ash looked at them all, wondering what had gotten into their two friends. There was no way to explain what was slowly happening to Gary, and Damian's sudden reaction to his tale.

Suddenly, the two of them appeared in the camp site, back from wherever they had been. In all honesty, Ash had to admit it had taken them less time than he had expected to deal with whatever they had to deal with.

"What were you doing?" Elayne asked Damian as soon as he arrived. 

"Sorry, I had to have a chat with Gary and I wanted it to be private." He told them. "You can ask him about what we talked about, he'll probably tell you a little bit of tit, but not much at all." He told them back. "It's just not my secret to share.

Ash looked at him, wondering what it was that had happened between the two young men, and what was the secrets they were holding back. 

Chapter 4 : Fallen Dreams

Lying down on the ground for their second night out in the forest of Lake Rage, Ash tossed restlessly in his sleep. Dark dreams haunted him, dreams he couldn't even begin to understand, as they made little sense by what he knew. They were dreams of dark fire tearing the world apart, and dreams of a darkness reaching from stars to stars. Dreams of old pain, too, and those he could understand, as he saw in his mind's eye Sprout Tower burning once more, Butch firing in the streets of Pallet once again. Misty's scream, and images of his mother's dead body flashed in his mind as a soundless scream floated from his lips in the depths of the night while he tried to escape from the iron grip of the nightmare. Slowly, from the depths of the vision of horror, he seemed to wake up.

It was no vision of horror that awaited him as he woke up, he knew that as soon as his eyes opened, as he felt the burning pain in his chest, heard the rasping breath - his own. The worried look in the eyes of the woman who seemed to be treating his wounds was more than enough to tell him he probably wouldn't survive.

"C'mon Ash...hang on..." The voice of the woman was filled with unshed tears. He turned his head, taking all of his strength to turn toward her. She had shoulder-length chestnut hair, and as he looked at her, he could see a faint, fading golden aura surrounding her. He couldn't shake the feeling that he knew her, that they had already met more than once. But no matter how hard her tried to remember who she was, the name eluded him constantly.

The pain in his chest grew stronger, and he knew that soon, there would not be pain anymore, that the wound would claim his life. The pain was intense, searing, as if a white-hot, hooked knife was being twisted inside his chest by a malevolent hand.

The despair in the girl's eyes as she turned toward him, looking at him with a face ravaged by grief. She was slightly older than he was, perhaps eighteen, ninety, or her early twenties. He coughed as tendrils of pain seemed to worm their way around his throat, wrapping it tightly and slowly constricting it. Simply filling his lung seemed to be the hardest thing he had ever done. 

He turned toward her again as the pain became stronger, as slowly he stopped feeling his limbs, then his arms. The iron grips of the tendril of pains on his heart tightened, and he felt as if his life was suddenly being torn out of him.

"Ash! Don't!" the cry of anguish of the woman tore his soul. "Don't die...I can't loose you too...not after..." she seemed desperate. "I need you...Misty need you...the world need you." The tears were not held back this time.

"I'm...sorry..." his voice was less than a whisper, and as the last word slowly faded from his lips, his life ebbed out of him, departing never to return.

His eyes snapped open again, this time to the gray light of the time just before dawn, when the sun in the east brought a light under the cloud without allowing any shadow to be cast. Pikachu was looking at him worriedly. He sat up slowly, remembering the succession of nightmare, culminating with the vivid vision of his own death.

"That." He said to the pokemon who had quickly become such a great friend. "Was not my idea of a good night." He smiled. "I wonder what she meant, though, the world need me?" he shrugged it off. 

"Chuuuu?" the electric mouse asked sleepily, looking at his companion with bleary eyes.

"Oh...nothing Pikachu...I just had a nightmare...that's all." Ash replied, trying to set his mind straight about what had just happened.

"Chu?" the little electric mouse asked again, face filled with curiosity as he woke up.

"Ah, nothing important..." Ash replied, not willing to mention what he had seen to anyone for now.

Despite his best attempts, he couldn't go back to sleep in the grayish light of dawn, and so he sat down, thinking about Misty, about the mysterious figure of his dream, one he was sure he had met before, just hadn't recognized. 

_______________________________

They left the coast of Lake Rage later in the morning, once they were all up. Misty, of course, had noticed Ash as being tired and had offered that they stay one more day, but he had declined. He was eager to be back on his quest, and now that Misty was sufficiently rested, he could see no reason not to move on with life. Not even the fear of a death like the one he had dreamed about in that one dream that had been so vivid the night before. When it had been the time to act, he had never let fear of what might happen interfere with his choices, what he felt he had to do.

They walked back toward Mahogany, Misty at his side. Elayne was not too far from them, and for once she was not anywhere close to Damian, who walked behind them all, apparently lost in thought. They had not fought each other that Ash knew of, but what he knew was that they both seemed to be lost in thought. He could only hope that it had nothing to do with their relationship, as he knew how important it was to both of them.

"Ash...did you have a...strange...dream last night? One that seemed like it was real?" she asked him as they crossed another of the many streams that ran down from the mountains to feed the Rage river.

"Yeah..." he answered slowly, remembering the vivid details of his dream. "You?"

"Me too...we were in Cerulean, and there was a dark...thing in it, too...I don't know what it was..." her voice was soft but somehow worried.

"At least you were luckier than me..." he told her, holding her tightly.

"What do you mean?" she asked him, her eyes concerned.

"Seeing - and feeling - your own death is NOT my idea of fun." He told her glumily.

"You two had bad dreams too?" Elayne turned toward them as she heard them talking. 

"Yeah..." Ash replied slowly.

"I had one too...I...I don't think I want to talk about it though." There were a few tears in her eyes as she looked at the two of them. Misty put a comforting hand on her shoulder and looked at her with reassuring eyes. "It'll be alright Elayne." She told her softly. Ash smiled. He had no idea if Misty's softening was the result of her simply becoming older, or if it had something to do with being with him, but he knew that she did not snap at people half as much as she used to.

When they arrived to Mahogany in the afternoon, Ash decided to go challenge the gym leader immediately, while Gary agreed to go second. Misty followed Ash as he opened the great glass doors of the gym that had been shaped to look like crystal. They shone fiercely as the sun pounded on them, and their bright light forced Ash and Misty to shield their eyes. As they stepped in the ice-covered gym that looked almost like an hockey ring, the two of them were met by an old man with white hair and a walking stick.

"Greeting. I am Pryce, the gym leader of Mahogany." He told them in a tired voice. "I assume one of you is here for the badge?" he asked themé

"I am." Ash nodded.

"Very well. Three on three?" the man asked him. "Is that fine for you?"

"It's fine." Ash replied, quickly selecting his pokemon. Houndour was a must, because of his ability to use fire attacks while not being in as much danger from ice as Charizard. Charizard, despite the danger due to his flying side would also have to be part of the team. And the fact that most Ice types were also part-water made Pikachu the obvious last choice.

"Then, Dewgong! I choose you!" the man shouted as a the beautiful pearly white pokemon appeared, its shining horn seemingly made of pure crystal.

"Dewgong...the, Pikachu, you go!" Ash ordered, knowing that the advantage of his two fire types over ice would be wasted in that fight since Dewgong was also a water pokemon.

"A Pikachu? Dewgong! Body slam that thing!" Pryce ordered, and it was clear he wanted the normal move to overcome the type weakness he was up against.

"Pikachu! Use agility to get out of the way, then Thunderbolt!" Ash countered. 

As the seal-like pokemon tried to ram Pikachu with its body in a powerful physical ramming move, the little mouse quickly dodged, running to safety, letting the Dewgong fly past him. As he rapidly turned to face the beast, his cheek sparkled and a fierce bolt of thunder flew off, striking the great beast and greatly weakening it. The Dewgong glared at Pikachu, and Pryce glared at Ash.

"Not bad so far..." Pryce muttered. "Dewgong! Horn Drill!" Pryce ordered. Ash knew that move, it was one that would automatically cause a pokemon to faint if it struck, one that had been known to even kill the pokemon against which it was used once or twice. If that move struck, Pikachu was out of the game, and that was something Ash definitely did not want.

"Pikachu! Agility again, then another thunderbolt!" he ordered, and as the seal pokemon tried to ram pikachu with his horn, the little mouse dodged to safety again, and fired a thunderbolt. Just at the same time, Dewgon fired an impressive beam of ice at Pikachu. As the thunderbolt struck dewgong, the ice enveloped Pikachu, freezing him in place.

"Double knock-out, it seems." Pryce commented. Ash nodded slowly as he jumped in the ring to take care of the block of ice that held his pikachu. He carried it back toward his side of the battle arena, and gave it to Misty. 

"Can you please take care of him?" he asked her pleadingly. She nodded with a smile.

"Anything for you Ash." 

Ash turned back toward Pryce, who was already sending out his next pokemon. "Piloswine! I choose you!" he yelled as a fur-covered, boar-like pokemon appeared in the middle of the battlefield. Wondering what the creature was as he had never seen one like it before, Ash drew his pokedex. 

"Pilloswine. The Swine pokemon. Because the hair all over its body obscures its sight, it just keeps charging repeatedly." The mechanic voice informed him. "Piloswine is a ice and a ground pokemon."

The ground type meant that sending out Houndour was quite risky, as he would probably be defeated by an earthquake attack, or another such. Those attacks could easily tear destroy the little beast. Charizard, on the other hand, would at least benefit from immunity to the ground move due to his flying type - as long as he maintained himself above the ground, no ground attack could touch him.

"Charizard! I choose you!" he called out the great fire dragon, who appeared in the middle of the battlefield, glaring at the boar-like Piloswine. 

"Piloswine! Blizzard!" Pryce yelled.

"Charizard! Counter it with a fire blast!" Ash gave his own order.

A swarm of icy crystals floated out of Piloswine's fur, speeding toward Charizard, only to be met midway through by the roaring wave of flame that came from the dragon's powerful fire blast. The crystals melted in a puddle of water, and some of that water was pushed back to fall on the Piloswine who reared, roaring in pain as the water attack met one of its weakness.

"Charizard! Fire blast again! Aim under Piloswine!" he ordered, remembering the trick that had almost defeated him during the fourth round of the pokemon league challenge, on, appropriately enough, the ice field.

The wave of fire melted the ice under Piloswine, transforming it in a deep puddle of water. As Pryce and the ground type slowly realized what was happening, Ash smiled. The ground type was too slow to get out of the hole in which it was sinking in time. With a weary sigh, the gym leader recalled his pokemon, glaring at Ash. 

"Let's see how you handle this one, then." He muttered, calling on his last pokeball. "Jynx! I choose you!" he yelled as the little blonde pokemon appeared, making kissing gestures at his charizard who recoiled in something very much like disgust.

"Charizard! Fire Blast!" Ash ordered quickly.

"Jynx! Dodge, then put it to sleep with lovely kiss!" Pryce countered.

The roaring wave of fire struck toward the ice pokemon, but she somehow managed to slide to safety in time. As she did so, she suddenly jumped and managed to land on Charizard's back, immediatey kissing the dragon, ho fell asleep and on the ground. Ash recalled his pokemon, knowing he was down to his last one - and also knowing that his last pokemon would have the advantage in the next battle.

"Houndour! I choose you!" He summoned the dark type, knowing the double advantage of being a dark-type against a psychic and a fire-type against an ice-type seriously tipped the balance his way.

The little wolf cub-like pokemon appeared in the middle of the field, his eyes fierce with determination. Over the last few months, his chances to battle had been few and far between - Azalea being about the only gym were Ash had actually used him - but he definitely seemed to want to prove himself before Ash.

"Now's your chance Houndour! Sunny day, then flamethrower!" he ordered. 

"Jynx! Double Slap!" his opponent countered, knowing that all his other options had been taken out by the doubled type disadvantage. 

The humanoid pokemon charged and started repeatedly slapping the houndour, but at the same time, the creature howled, to the sun instead of howling to the moon, and all the clouds that had covered the day star vanished. The crystal-like doors and the icy floor reflected the strong sunlight, blinding everyone save Houndour who had prepared himself and Ash who had done the same, knowing what was coming and had put an hand over his eyes to let them slowly adapt to the light.

A powerful beam of fire flew out of the Houndour's mouth, a deadly weapon that struck the Jynx in the head, causing it to fall to the floor, taken out by the dreaded attack, which had been made stronger by the warmth of the sunlight. As the sunlight slowly started to fade, the glow seemed to remain present, surrounding Houndour. Ash watched in astonishment as the body of the little pokemon grew and as two horns appeared on the top of his head. When the glow vanished, he was left looking no longer at as small wolf cub-like pokemon, but at a tall, sleek and deadly hound. An Houndoom. 

Ash recalled his new pokemon, smiling as he realized that Houndour certainly would not have to complain about being under-used again. Now that he was evolved, there was no reason to fear that he would be too weak to handle battles, even without such a positive type match-up as the last battle. Pryce joined him, and handed him a small object.

"Here's your Glacier Badge. You deserve it." He told him. "It's good to know that not all the kids have forgotten how to fight." He commented. "Hopefully, we'll meet again at Indigo in a few months..." 

"What?" Ash asked in surprise. He had no ideas what he would be doing at Indigo in a few months. The Johto headquarters were in Goldenrod, after all.

"They announced it yesterday...They are calling off both the Indigo and Johto championship for this year." Pryce explained, and Ash's heart sank. "Instead, there is going to be a huge tournament at Indigo for the trainers and gym leaders of the two leagues. You need at least 8 badges from one of the league to enter the qualifiers, and if you have eight badges from each league, you get a bye to the finals. Same if you are a gym leader." He explained. Ash smiled as he realized that unless he failed to get his badge in Blackthorn in the next few months, he would be in the finals of that championship.

Chapter 5 : Dark Force Rising

They left Mahogany the next morning, after Gary had in turn successfully defeated Pryce. Of course, as they walked toward the Ice Pass that lead to the legendary Blackthorn, Ash and his friends could not help but talk about the stunning news about the enormous championship. As it was, out of the five of them, Ash, Gary and Misty would probably be instantly qualified for the finals, the first two for having all sixteen badges, and Misty for being a Gym Leader.

"I wonder if we'll have to face each other..." Elayne mused, looking at each of them.

"If I have to face you Ash, you can be sure I'll forfeit." Misty added. "It's your dream, not mine. And if I get a chance to help you..." She smiled.

"Not a chance of ME doing that, though." Gary smiled. "Just because you're my best friend doesn't mean I wouldn't want to face you." He grinned. 

"I wouldn't have it any other way Gary." Ash replied, grinning back. Even though their friendship was renewed, he was eager to face his friend.

"Don't you think you should get your last badge first?" Damian told them sourly. Apparently, he wasn't interested much in pokemon battling and found the way the four of them had been obsessing over it for most of the day quite annoying.

Ash and Gary both nodded sheepishly. It was true that they both had one badge left to collect, and that according to what they had heard, the gym leader they were about to face knew his business and would probably give them some trouble, maybe even forcing them to ask for a re-match. He certainly hoped it didn't come down to that, as he hated to loose, but if the choice was between risking his pokemon's live and loosing, it wasn't an hard choice for him, and despite some of the things his friend had done over time, he knew it wasn't an hard choice for Gary either.

"You're right..." Gary said. "Do you have any idea what kind of pokemon that gym leader train?" he asked them all. They all shook their heads slowly. It appeared that the type of pokemon that the last gym leader was training was a closely guarded secret.

"No...And I'd really like to know..." Ash replied, It was hard to plan out an effective strategy without knowing what he'd be up against. Gary looked at him, and his eyes apparently for the first time noticed something.

"Hey Ash, you trying to copy my style or what?" He asked teasingly, pointing at the piece of leather tied between Ash's neck that held a golden scale on his chest, the same scale that Misty had found on the shore of Lake Rage earlier and given him.

"I just picked up that scale, and I thought it'd be nice there." Ash replied, smiling at his friend. Of course, that was not the exact truth - using the small necklace as a pendant had been Misty's idea, not his - but it was close enough. Gary nodded and brought back his attention to watching the world around them in hope of finding a new pokemon he could catch. He had a fairly good team, of course, but Ash could definitely understand why his friend would want to improve it, given the chance.

They continues walking eastward, and after nearly a week of traveling through an area filled with sparkling lakes and shining trees, they reached the gaping entrance of a cave. Crystal shards could be seen within the cave, those closest to the entrance glittering in the sunlight.

"That's the place." Gary commented. 

"Yeah. The entrance of the Ice pass." Misty nodded, looking at the map.

"Weird though..." Elayne noted. "I thought pass were in open air, usually..." she looked at Misty questioningly.

"That's because there's a route in open air, but with the recent changes they made, it's only for cars...they opened up those tunnels for the people." Gary explained. Apparently, he had been in the region already, probably in the time between his defeat at the pokemon league and the time at which he had returned to Pallet.

____________________________

The wind howled with fierce fury in the mountains of the north, past Cerulean, where the Crimson Lotus Headquarter was located. The snowflakes that fell from the sky were blown and scattered by the howling gale, sometime falling on the flanks of the great peak that housed the Crimson Lotus base, sometime falling in the water that did not freeze only because of the salt that kept its temperature from going too low. Even then, some small packs of ice appeared from time to time, but fortunately, they were equipped to deal with that. 

Realizing that the current location was no place to be looking at the weather, May Oak shifted her attention back to the man who was talking. He was quite old, with a short white beard and no other traces of hair. There was a sense of power to the man, the sense of someone who could lead without any trouble, who could order others without them ever saying anythign about it and accepting it without even thinking about complaining.

He was the Grand Master of the Crimson Lotus, and the simple idea of a member who had barely been in the group for over a year being summoned to his office was something quite overwhelming.

"So, you are May Oak." He said. "I have heard much about you." His face was unreadable. "They tell me you have a gift for strategy?" he asked her, one eyebrow raised.

May tried to stay calm under the scrutiny of the man. One mistake here would send her to the first line of attack in the fighting, and she would probably get herself killed there. Whereas a perfect score could land her in command of the Lotus army instead, which was a much more rewarding position.

"Maybe. If they think so." She answered carefully. Denying it would be the worst move, but acknowledging it before having shown the proof of it to the Grand Master would have been very nearly as bad.

"They tell me you took Saffron, with the best score ever?" he looked at her. Of course, he already knew the truth of that, and she knew that he knew, but she would still acknowledge that she had done that. Here, proof was already delivered, and had been brought to the man a long time ago. Right before they had started training her in strategy, tactic and the art of leading warriors instead of the art of shooting people, running around, and avoiding obstacles.

"I did." She simply nodded as she said so. 

"And that you did extremely well during your training session?" he asked her. Here, she had to be careful. Many teachers had told her she was, in fact, one of their best student ever, but to say so here, without proof, would be a mistake.

"They might think so."

"And do you believe so?"

She froze as she heard the question, a question she was unprepared for. So far, all questions had been questions based on the opinions of other. He had never asked her any question about her own personal beliefs. She took a deep breath, and took the risk of answering.

"I believe I did well." She answered. "Although I could probably have done better." She added.

"Yet, you have done better than anyone before you in most cases, or nearly as well as the few who went before you when you weren't the best. And you think you could have done better."

"What I did wasn't perfect." She answered. "I made mistakes."

"Ah, so you are able to admit that." The voice was actually sounding to sound impressed, though May could not be sure of it, and would not take the risk of assuming he was. "And those who taught you say that you made very few mistakes." This time, it was no question, but a simple statement. "You are a ver rare person, Miss Oak." He told her. "Extremely skilled in the art of war, yet able to admit your own weaknesses, to see your mistakes, few and far between as they are and be willing to work to correct them, instead of telling yourself they are too small to matter." A hard smile appeared on his old, wrinkled face as he turned toward a box behind him on a shelf.

He opened the box, drawing a single object from it, a small pin. He handed it to her. "Your new uniform await you in the next room. Once you have put it on, you'll need that pin." He told her, pointing toward the door in the back of his office. She slwoly opened it, her heart pounding, wondering what rank she had been assigned. She made a conscious effort not to look at the pin as she entered. Closing the door, she watched the snow-white pants and shirt waiting for her. Slowly removing the olive uniform she had been issued upon her arrival at the base, she put on the new one. Her heart kept on beating heavily inside her chest as she slowly looked at the pin she had been given.

Her jaw dropped as she saw at once that it was made of gold and inlaid with three lotus-shaped rubies. Higher that she had ever hoped to reach. General of the Lotus army, the highest possible rank, the one that would put her in command of thousands of men, women and many other officiers. She slowly pinned the mark of her new rank in place on her shirt, for the first time noticing the two golden shoulder plates which had been left in the room, and fixing then in place as well.

Filled with pride, yet also with a certain sense that this was far more than she had bargained for, she walked back in the room, where the grandmaster awaited her. He was no longer alone. With him were two more men, one whom she knew, in a colonel uniform, the other a man with dark hair, a pointy beard, and sharp, angular eyes. He did not look like the kind of man she tended to trust, but if he had been selected as a general, then there had to be a good reason for that. Eric gave her a smile with a wink that obviously meant "I told you so".

"Ah, General Oak. There you are." The grandmaster smiled at her. "Let me introduce you to two men you will be working with. This is Ethan Starkhad, one of our best agent, who has proven his skill at manipulating the opposition by destroying Team Rocket. While you will be in charge of our offensive operations, he will be in charge of the forces defending the headquarters, at first anyway." The man they all respected told her. "And this one is your new aide, Eric Nelson. He will be in charge of assisting you in whichever tasks you require." He added.

"General Starkhad." May nodded slightly toward the man, who barely moved his head in acknowledgement.

"General Oak." His tone was frosty. Obviously, he had wanted her job, and did not like having lost it to a twenty years old woman. Eric bowed respectfully when she turned toward him, and she groaned inwardly. 

"Now, I believe there is yet one more thing that we have to take care of. Ethan, I believe you have to oversee the preparations of our defenses, so if you will please do so?" the grandmaster ordered the man. "May, Eric, if you will please follow me..." he added, turning toward them. As they exited his office, a pair of guard formed up to escort them.

He led them through the halls of the fortress to part she had never seen before, further down until they reached what seemed like a laboratory deep inside the fortress. In the middle of it stood a strange machine, with two helms-like devices. In the back, shelve were filled with rows upon rows of pokeball. At a sign of the grandmaster, one of the lotus officer waiting on the other side went and picked up a pokeball. May wondered what this was all about as the grandmaster motioned her to go sit under one of the helm-like devices. He started to explain.

"You see, as you already know, pokemon are creature of evil, creature of darkness." He told her. "But the power they wield, it is a power they steal from the Creator himself. A power that we must harness and command ourselves so that we can finish the great work of our creator." He started his explanation. "It's a power that can be harnessed to make weapons, or other tools of war." The explanation continued. "It's also a power that can be given to a human. Only those who deserves it the most are granted that power, because it is extremely hard to wield. But you will need it." He looked at her, and made a sign to one of the man. Looking at Eric, she could plainly read in his face what he wanted to tell her, that the process would be painful - though he would probably have said it more like "It hurts like hell". She braced herself as the device was lowered over her head and as a pokemon appeared on the other side, restrained, only to have the device lowered over his own head.

What came after, she couldn't understand as the first blast of energy from the machine struck her, sending waves of atrocious pain throughout her body, as the power of the creatures were slowly forced in her. It was obvious that those powers - maybe they were the creature spirit? - did not want to be in her, but that the machine forced them in. Her own spirit also seemed to be trying to resist, and the pain came mostly from the clashing of these two wills with the power of the machine.

Suddenly, the pain stopped, even though she could tell the process was not over. It was as if the two spirits had stopped fighting each other, and now they were becoming one with ease, as if they now both wanted to be united. 

As the helm started to rise again, she realized with a start that she could actually feel the presence of the others in the room...Eric, who seemed worried, was just behind her. The grandmaster, very calm, was standing further than he had, closer to the stair. The technicians all seemed puzzled as they looked at her. As she looked around, she saw them dragging away the dead body of the pokemon who had been used in this transfer, one that she thought was an Alakazam from what she had heard from her grandfather and brother.

As soon as the helm was completely away, she moved out of the chair, to stare at Eric's definitely worried face.

"How are you?" He quickly asked her.

"I'm fine...it was painful at first, but only for a short while...after that, it became easy..." she explained.

"That's odd...all those that I know who went through it, me included thought it was painful from the beginning to the end..." he answered. He seemed about to say something else, but he was interrupted by the voice of the grandmaster.

"General Oak, I believe you have some tactical planning to do...our assault will begin in a few months, and I want you to be ready." He told her.

"I will be." She answered, and she knew that she would have her plans fully ready by then.

--------------------

As they walked through the cave, Ash could not help but stare in wonder at the environment. Crystals of ice were everywhere, covering the cave, and reflecting the light of Charizard's tail fire in a rainbow of coruscating colors. Misty, who was walking besides him, was as wide-eyed as he was as they stared at the stunning beauty of the place.

"It's...so beautiful..." she whispered, wrapping her arm tightly around his waist..

"Yeah..." he answered slowly, holding her close to him with one arm over her shoulder, hoping to share warmth as the cave was quite cold.

They did not talk much during the two days within the cave, two days of freezing cold as they made their way toward the last gym. The sole night they spent in the cave was a night that they spent being frozen. They all slept close, so that they could share both their body warmth and their sleeping bag, which, opened, made for excellent blankets. Even that way, the night was still cold, and they were all tired the next morning as they had not managed to sleep much.

Late on the second day, they finally reached the end of the cave, and saw at once why Blackthorn was such a famous city. The mountain vale that sprawled just ahead of them was filled with ancient marble buildings, temples and palaces, some of them half in ruins, some of them being repaired, some of them which looked unaffected by the passage of time. The sky was fiery as the sun was lowering in the horizon, and the snow on the mountains surrounding the city was shining in a stunning display of color, red, gold, pink, yellow and purple rivaling as they were reflected by the pristine white material.


	2. Part 2 : City of Dragons

Part 2 : City of Dragons

Chapter 6 : The Final Challenge

As they entered Blackthorn, Ash and his friends could see in greater details the ancient temples, palaces and shrines within the city. They walked through the ancient streets, wondering what each of the building had been used as, why it was there. It hardly seemed likely that a single government would have needed so many palaces, that a single king would have needed hundreds of homes in the same city.

Following what seemed to be the main street of the city, the soon reached what was almost certainly the pokemon center. They opened the door, and stepped in.

"Hello...what can I do for you?" The all-too-familiar voice of one of the many Joy asked them from behind the counter.

"Not much. My charizard might be a bit tired, so I guess he could use some healing, but outside that..." Ash answered. "All we need is a place for the night."

"I'll take care of that at once."

"Thank you nurse Joy!" Misty answered. The nurse looked at them and sighed.

"The common mistake, I see. My name's not Joy, I just look like them a lot - because permanently dyeing your hair red was the craze when we were all at the nurse university, and we all decided to keep at it after school. Kind of a way to remember each other. As for the rest, it's mostly our uniforms. I'm Nurse Ann. Now, if you give me your pokemon, I'll go and have them back at full health in a moment." she added

The young woman took their pokemon, and as she headed back, the five of them scattered across the waiting room, looking at all that they could find. There were flyers about the city, and its various attractions, and Ash randomly picked one to read.

Blackthorn : Blackthorn is known as the city of the dragons. It is an ancient city built in a valley in the Silver Mountains, and is famous as one of the few place in the world were dragon pokemon can be found. The gym leaders of Blackthorn have specialized in dragon pokemon for years.

"Dragon type?" he asked in surpsise.

"What?" Gary asked, turning toward him.

"This says the local gym leader trains dragon pokemon." He answered, giving the flyer to his friend.

"Dragon? That's going to be a though fight." Damian told them. "Dragon pokemon have very few weakness." He added. 

"I know." Gary nodded.

"So do I." Ash added, though he didn't know THAT much about them. "But I have no idea how to beat them." He added, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. This was not going well.

"Ice types. And dragon types." Gary replied shortly. Apparently, he knew the stuff much more than Ash did. "But I doubt she's using only dragon pokemon. She must be using pseudo dragon, too." He told Ash.

"Pseudo-dragon?" Ash asked in surprise, as he had never heard the term before.

"Pokemon that looks like dragon, and learns dragon type attacks, but aren't dragon types. Charizard, Gyarados, Aerodactyl - those are pseudo dragon." His friend explained, and Ash nodded. 

"Seems like most of those are weak to electricity." He noticed.

"Yeah, your pikachu might be able to do you some good in there. Same for your Charizard, he probably know a dragon move or two by now." Gary nodded thoughtfully. "But against true dragon...you really need an ice type." Gary stopped, lost in thought, as he was apparently planning out his own tactic for the gym battle. Ash turned toward Misty.

"Mist? Could I borrow Lapras for tomorrow?" he asked her. "He's part-ice after all."

"Of course Ash dear." She smiled, then took the pokeball and handed it to him. "My pleasure to help." He smiled back at her, feeling the same kind of warmth he always felt when they smiled at each other.

He continued planning his tactic late in the night, still unsure whether he would leave Pidgeot, Kadabra, Eevee or Houndoom back at the pokemon center. Eevee seemed the logical choice, as it had no type advantage, and was still too weak to do much in a fight.

And so, they went to sleep, and on the next morning they headed for the Dragon Gym. A man welcomed them near the door.

"Miss Leonhart heard about you mister Ketchum. She is waiting for you." The man told him as he entered.

"Waiting for me?" Ash answered, surprised. Why would a gym leader be waiting for a trainer like him, and why would she have heard of him in advance?

"Yes...If you will follow me?" the man asked him, before leading him further in the strangely built gym, inside a maze. They finally reached a small stony island in the middle of a pool of lava, which undoubtedly had to be the fighting area, as was clearly indicated by the white lines on it, in the traditional shape of any other fighting area of any other gym. To Ash, it looked extremly similar to Blaine's gym on Cinnabar Island, which was a platform hanging over a pool of lava, in the middle of a volcano. A woman with blue hair was the only human beside them and their guide on the small rocky island. Ash noticed huge, heat-resistant chain holding the island in place above the lava..

"Don't worry about the lava, it's just for show. It's not real lava." The man smiled as he watched their worried look. "We only use it to scare beginning trainers into doing other gyms before this one. But in your case, Ash, since you already have eighteen badges, I think you are ready to face her." As he finished saying that, he left, heading back toward the entrance of the gym.

"So. You are the one I heard so much about." The woman looked at him, a hard look. "I am Claire Leonhart, the champion of Blackthorn. Do you think you have what it takes to beat a dragon master?" she asked, in a challenging tone.

"I do." He answered, trying - without much success - to remain calm. The decoration of the gym had obviously been arranged to impress trainers, and to prevent them from being fully concentrated on the fight.

"Well, then...you know the usual rules. Each of us have four pokemon, and there is no time limit." She told him, drawing a pokeball. "Are you ready?" she asked.

"I am." Was his simple answer.

"Then, let's fight. Charizard! I choose you!"

The great orange dragon appeared, quite larger than Ash's own Charizard. Its tail flame was extremely bright, a sign of its strength and power.

Ash was not eager to risk Misty's Lapras on the field yet, and that was the only pokemon he had which would be able to talke advantage of the Charizard's fire type. On the other hand, pikachu would be perfectly able to take advantage of the pokemon's flying half.

"Pikachu! Go!" he yelled, and watched as his little mouse-like pokemon jumped from his shoulders in the middle of the battlefield to fight the dragon.

"PIKA!" His friend shouted as he did so. Ash watched the situation intently, waiting for Claire to make the first move.

"A pikachu...that will be easy...Charizard! Fire Blast!" She ordered, obviously underestimating her enemy, be it because of size, power, or type.

"Pikachu! Agility, then Thunderbolt!" Ash countered, electing to rely on Pikachu's superior speed to dodge the attack, then to fire back at the opponent.

The great dragon roared, sending forth a wave of fire aimed toward Pikachu, but the little mouse managed to dodge through a sudden bust of speed, barely even getting some of his fur singed in the process. His cheeks sparkled, and a great bolt of thunder flew from his tail, but the Charizard managed to dive under the powerful thunderbolt, avoiding it entirely.

"All right...Your pikachu is stronger than I tought" Claire muttered "Let's see how you handle THIS! Charizard, Earthquake!" she ordered the dragon.

Ash froze in panick. He knew that if the Earthquake attack hit Pikachu, the little mouse would be defeated with ease, as the power of the ground would absorb the electricity of pikachu. He looked around, trying to find a solution. The Charizard started to pound on the ground, causing the Earthquake to begin. Ripple of energy raced on the ground..

"Ash! Tell Pikachu to get on Charizard!" Misty yelled from behind, and he nodded gratefully. Misty was right, of course. Charizard, as a fire type, would need to fly to avoid the effect of his own earthquake, and if Pikachu was to jump on his back, he would have an easy shot at retaliating.

"Pikachu, use Agility to jump on Charizard!" he yelled.

Pikachu nodded, then accelerated to a blinding speed, jumping on Charizard as soon as he had taken enough speed, just before the dragon took off. A split second later, the exact spot Pikachu had been standing on exploded in a shower of dirt as the powerful earthquake took effect..

"Get that pikachu off your back!" Claire yelled, obviously knowing that unless her dragon did so very soon, it would be too late.

"Okay, now, use your Thunder attack." Ash ordered."

"PI...KA...CHUUUUUUU!" The little mouse yelled as he called upon his electric power.

Since he was standing right on top of his target, Pikachu had no problems in aiming the powerful bolt of energy. The crackling energy that fell from the sky easily knocked out the Charizard, causing him to slowly fall from the sky as Pikachu jumped off, landing on the broken ground to watch the Charizard crash on the platform. Claire recalled her pokemon, and picked up another pokeball.

"Far stronger than I tought...Well, no matter what, your pikachu won't stand a chance against this...Dragonair! I choose you!". 

The strange worm like pokemon, whom Ash had only seen once before, in the Safari Zone, appeared, its shiny horn glittering in the light of the sun that was filtered through the great dome-like window on top. Pristine white wings were on each side of the blue serpentine head.

"Dragonair! Thunder Wave!" She yelled as soon as her pokemon appeared.

Before Ash had the time to give an order of his own, the dragonair released a swarm of tiny bolts from the top its horn. Pikachu tried to dodge them all, but simply could not, and soon he found himself paralyzed an unable to make a single move.

"Pikachu...come back!" he resigned himself to say. "Charizard! I choose you!" he added, sending out his own orange dragon. The great beast appeared, staring at the dragon in front of him. The two of them looked warily at each other, waiting for the other to make a move.

"Right then...Dragonair! Ice Beam!" ordered Claire, who was obviously hoping to freeze Charizard - and also hoping to take advantage of the fact that Charizard was part flying, and therefore was not as resistant to ice attacks as most other fire types.

"Charizard! Use some kind of dragon attack!" Ash ordered, realizing suddenly that he did not know if Charizard even knew such an attack. And even if he did, Ash had no idea what the attack would be named, or what it would do. He noticed from the corner of his eye Misty looking at him in near despair.

"Why don't you use some attack you know Charizard have, like Flamethrower?" she asked him.

"Because I know it wouldn't work against a dragon." He replied. "And so do you."

"Yeah, but still, relying on Charizard to choose which attack to use like that..."

A powerful golden glow seemed to surround Charizard as he stared at the blue beast, a glow that was mirrored by the light in his eyes. He charged at the Dragonair, swinging his fists and trying to bite the beast with his powerful jaws. Each strike he took seemed to cause the golden glow to fade a little, but only a little. The Ice Beam that Dragonair sent out damaged Charizard badly, but his fists soon knocked out his opponent. Claire looked at the results aghast. 

"How did your Charizard learn Outrage? It's the most powerful dragon attack." Her eyes seemed filled with amazement.

"I don't know, honestly." He replied. I wasn't even sure he had a dragon type attack until now." He admitted.

"That's a big risk you took then." She pointed out.

"I know." He answered simply.

"Well, no matter. Dragonair, return! Kingdra! I choose you!" she said, recalling her Dragon and sending out yet another pokemon. This time, the pokemon was a deep blue color, and looked somewhat similar to an Horsea, although an a old and senile horsea.

"Kingdra?" Ash asked in surprise, as he had never seen or heard of the pokemon before. He drew his pokedex, and aimed it a the pokemon.

"Kingdra. The recently discovered evolved form of Seadra. Altough it looks senile, it is very powerful. It is a Dragon/Water pokemon." The machine informed him in the usual mechanized voice.

"Kindra! Use your Surf attack!" Claire yelled, her voice filled with determination.

A great roaring wave rose from nowhere, and swept over the fire lizard, like the maw of a great predator swallowing a little insect. Already weak from the ice beam that Dragonair had fired at him, Charizard could not help but faint.

"Well...then...Charizard, return! Kadabra! I choose you!" he called as he sent out his psychic pokemon

"_What is it Master_? the smooth voice of his pokemon asked as she came out.

"I need your help against that dragon." He answered. 

__

"A dragon? Then I know the perfect move."

A thousand of tiny balls of energy floated out of the crystal spoon, as if Kadabra was focusing her psychic energy through it. They rushed at an astounding speed toward the Kingdra, striking it and causing the dragon to roar in pain. 

"Kingdra! Use Thunderbolt!" Claire yelled, obviously out to knock out the psychic pokemon before her pokemon was defeated.

Before the Kingdra had the time to strike however, the repeated assault of the tiny balls of energy proved enough to override his defense, and the strange dragon pokemon fell on the floor, only to be recalled by Claire just before he struck it.

"Then...Dragonair! I choose you! Use your Thunderbolt attack on that Gyarados." she said, sending out another Dragonair. The beast immediatly started gathering electricity, sending the powerful bolt at the target, taking him out with one fell blow that just struck the neck of the pokemon, her weakest point.

"Kadabra! No! Return...Lapras, I choose you!" he said, sending out his last pokemon, knowing it would be a close call, even if he won.

The two pokemons stared at each other, the great blue sea-monster-like pokemon and the small winged dragon. The two trainers kept their eyes locked on the field, waiting to send out their orders at the last possible moment.

"Dragonair! Thunderbolt!" Claire ordered suddenly

"Lapras! Sing!" Ash countered, hoping that the Dragonair would fall asleep before it got a chance to fire its electric attack at Lapras.

Fortunately, Lapras' trick managed to work, and the dragonair drifted off to sleep before it could fire its powerful bolt of crackling energy at Lapras. The little dragon slowly fell on the ground, its eyelids closed. Ash smiled, as it was lucky that Lapras's son, unlike Jigglypuff's, could be focused so as to hit only a specific target instead of everyone in the vicinity.

"Okay, Lapras, now, Ice Beam!" Ash smiled. 

"Dragonair! C'mon! You have to wake up!" Claire yelled from her side.

Dragonair did not wake up. The beam of Ice caught it, encasing its body in solid, unyielding ice, freezing it in place. The pokemon was obviously out of the fight, and Claire could do nothing but recall him.

She joined him, walking on the rim of the battle arena, while he recalled Lapras. She took a badge from her pocket, and handed it to Ash.

"You are really good Ash...Here is your Rising badge." She told him, handing him a badge shaped like the head of a dragon pokemon. "I had heard about you, but I wouldn't have thought you'd beat me." She smiled. "Your father always did say I was overconfident. I guess you proved him right, just like he did."

Ash tried to let the comment pass as she made it, as he didn't want to think about his father right now, though with her last comment, he was starting to have some wild suspicions about the identity of his father.

"Oh, well. When are you planning to leave, if I may ask?" she asked him.

"I don't know...we have quite a fair margin now that we are no longer going back to Goldenrod for the league championship." He smiled. "Why?"

"There is something I'd like to show you...It take place about every month, and the next time is three days from now." She told him. 

"I guess we can wait that long." He shrugged. "It's not like we're in a hurry."

Chapter 7 : The Dragon's Gem

"Gloom, return..." the trainer sighed. He was a middle-aged man with a huge beard, only matched by his own size, as he seemed to be twice as large as another man. "Well...looks like you win kid." He added, recalling the fainted gloom as Ash recalled Pidgeot.

A slow grin crept on his face, as he nodded. It was his sixth victory so far today, and his pokemon were all still in very good health, even Eevee, whom he had used once or twice. He decided to let them rest a little bit after all the battling, and went to find Misty, who was close to the pokemon center, also training, as she planned to participate in the upcoming tournament, too. They walked around in the town for a long time, until they finally reached a park where they found a bench, and sat down.

"Ash?" she said quietly.

"Yes, love?"

"Do you know were are Damian and Elayne? I've been looking for them..." she asked him.

"I think they said that they would go skiing...something along the line that it would be a waste to spend two days here without going skiing once..." He answered, remembering the conversation as the young man had left earlier in the morning.

"DAMIAN said that? It's not like him...He don't like skiing...almost the only thing he like to do is reading...I wonder how it is possible to be like that. Though...I guess it makes sense, seeing how things were before he left." She said, and there was a tiny trace of pain in her voice. Although she had been far better off than Damian, her situation had not been good, far from it, rejected by her family, and not very popular at school.

"Yeah, his books didn't laugh at him, taught him a lot, and he had fun reading them. As for skiing...he did not say that. Elayne said that. And Damian would do anything for her...just like I would do anything for you..." he smiled at her, caressing her long red hair.

"I know." She smiled, then kissed him.

Their days of waiting had gone by quickly, and they were only a few hours away from the mysterious event Claire had invited them to come see. They had spent most of their time training, of course, but they had also spent a lot of time together, in the park, or visiting the older parts of the city. Even thought they were not very interested in History, unlike Damian, they still enjoyed visiting the old locations.

The hours separating them from the event dwindled quickly, and soon they were on the way to the local gym to meet Claire. She was waiting for them on the marble steps that led to the old building, between the two dragon-shaped statues that seemed to guard the entrance.

"Ah, There you are." She said as she saw them coming. "I hope you're well rested, because we'll be away for most of the night." She added. She had not told them much about what it was that she wanted to show them. The only thing she had mentioned when Ash had come back to ask her more details was that Misty could come along if she wanted. Damian and Elayne had not seemed really interested in what it was, and Gary had been off in the mountains, preparing himself for his challenge, which he had said he wanted to do alone for once.

"Yeah" Ash replied. "So, what's that thing you want to show us?"

"Something very special...You'll see. I wouldn't want to spoil it for you." She replied mysteriously.

She led them out of the town, and then south in the mountains, following a halfway-hidden path that seemed to led them along a canyon ledge toward another valley, from all that they could see. As the moon slowly rose, they reached a small ledge dominating a little valley below. In the middle of it was a small mountain lake, its pure water sparkling as the rays of the moon faintly touched it. But the lake did not catch their attention, instead, what attracted their eyes was the great stone that stood on the tiny island in the middle of it, a stone shaped like a dragon. The stone, as a matter of fact, seemed to be a crystal, and, under the faint light of the moon, they could make out the purple color it had. From what they could see, it didn't appear that the stone had been carved by the hand of man, but rather, by wind and water over centuries of erosion.

"It's an amethyst, the largest ever...and it is a sacred stone to the locals...you'll see why..." Claire quickly explained.

"The locals?" Ash asked in surprise, wondering why humans would live in such a small valley, especially one that was so hard to access.

"Yes...not humans. Pokemon." She apparently understood the reason why Ash was having difficulties with the idea of locals, and explained.

A light wind rose, coming down from the slopes of the mountains, carrying with it the freezing cold of the eternal snows that draped the mountains in a white cloak.

"It's getting rather chilly isn't it?" Misty told him as the breeze blew her hair around her head.

"Yeah..." Ash answered. The wind definitely made the autumn air, already not that warm, much cooler.

"I'm cold Ash..." She told him.

"I'll get you your sleeping bag...you can wrap yourself in it..." he offered her, though he was having the feeling that this wasn't what she wanted.

"I don't want a sleeping bag." she shook her head, a small smile on her face.

"Well what do you want then?" he asked, beginnign to see where she was going.

"You." she answered.

"Oh." He put his arm on her shoulders and brought her closer. She was shivering. 

"Maybe you could get me that sleeping bag, too...now that I think of it..." She admitted, getting as close to him as she could.

"I'll do that." He smiled at her.

"But don't you dare get away from me once I'm in my sleeping bag..."

"I wouldn't dream of it" he assured her.

They waited for the better part of an hour, with Ash and Misty holding each other for warmth in the chilly air of the autumn night. Ash had taken his own sleeping bag out as well, and both of them where now lying down on the ground next to each other, watching the scene below. Ash arm was on Misty's shoulders, and Misty was trying - without much succes - to get closer to him, despite the fact that she was already pressed hard against him. Then, tiny worm-like shapes began to leave the small sparkling lake. They were only tiny shadows at first, but soon the moon was bathing the hollow in strange silver light. In that strange light, they could very well see the small snake-like creatures slithering toward the stone. Ash tried to identify them. At first he could not, but then, one got close enough for Ash to see it clearly.

"Dratini...I don't believe it...there's so many of them..." He whispered in awe.

"And there are some Dragonair too..." Misty noted, pointing at one with her hand, who seemingly stood watch over the dratini.

One of the little Dratini slowly climbed up the statue, moving steadily toward the head to wrap itself around the single horn sticking out of the stone's "forehead", so to speak..

A pure, shining moonbeam struck the enormous amethyst, and a peculiar glow appeared from the stone, filling the atmosphere with a eerie violet light. As the light reached him, Ash felt a peculiar feeling coming over him, as if the light was somehow affecting him.

The purple glow from the stone started to spread, engulfing the dratini that stood on the top of it, the dratini which soon was emitting its own bright light.

And then, the creature that stood on top of the statue was no longer a dratini, but a dragonair, with the pearly white horn

"It's evolving...they're using the stone to evolve somehow..." he whispered in amazement. Of course, there were evolution stones scattered all across the world that could trigger evolution for a few breed of pokemon, but they were few and far between. Besides which, Dragonair did not evolve by stone, and never had.

"Yeah...when we first encountered the phenomenon, all the scientist who were allowed to learn about it were puzzled, too. Those dragonairs were far too weak to have evolved, but they had...we still haven't found what's causing them to evolve in that stone, but at least we know it's due to the stone and the moon. It's one of the league's closest kept secret."

"It's so beautiful...But why did you show us? I mean, if it's such a secret..." Misty told her with a whisper.

"I'd like to have one..." Ash said dreamily at the same time.

"You can't catch those. Not during the ceremony anyway." Claire shook her head. "And, Misty, I decided to show it to the two of you...well, I dunno why. A feeling it will be important one day, maybe." She shrugged.

"What?" Misty asked in surprise, though she still managed to keep her voice low.

"I don't know. It's just a feeling I have..." Claire shrugged uncomfortably.

The ceremony went on for many long hours, over twenty dratini evolving, most of them in completely normal dragonair, but at least two of the dragonair had strange purple eyes that glowed under the moon. There might have been a third, but Ash was not too sure about it. As the sun rose and the dratini and dragonair slithered and flew back to their hiding place within the lake, Ash and his friends left their vantage point, heading back toward Blackthorn.. 

It was only a few hours later when they reached Blackthorn. As soon as they did, both Ash and Misty thanked Claire for letting them see such a fascinating thing, then hurried back to the pokemon center to get some rest, after spending a night without much sleep.

_______________________________

Entering the gym, Claire could not help but wonder if she had been mistaken to show Ash and Misty the shrine. It was of course that moment that her stupid cell phone choose to fill the air with the loud beeping noise that meant that someone was trying to call her. Idly, she considered not answering, but with a sigh she opened it.

"Claire Leonhart." She nodded, confirming to whomever was calling her that they had the good place.

"Darn. Here I thought this was the seeing-eye arcanine foundation." A voice replied in a dry tone on the other side. Claire groaned as she heard it. Of all people, why did it have to be HIM who would call her at that point?

"What do YOU want?" she asked, trying to avoid making snide comments.

"Oh, only wanted to check one thing with you. Is he in Blackthorn?"

"I have no idea who you are talking about." She replied dryly.

"Yes, you do. So stop it." The voice was not happy at all. 

"Oh, HIM you mean." She replied on a light tone. "Yeah, he's here."

"Let him go to the shrine." She didn't expect the order, but there it was.

"WHAT?" she yelled, almost destroying the phone in the process, and startling her assistant in the gym. "Are you out of your mind?" she yelled. "The shrine has been forbidden for the last ten years, and for a reason too." 

"Are you sure of that?" The voice replied in fake surprise. "Could you remind me whose idea it was in the first place to close the darn shrine?" the voice added mildly.

"And would you please tell me why that person wants me to open the shrine now?" the answer came from her lips without her even thinking about it.

"Because that person knows that certain others need to go to the shrine. You know, TWILIGHT and stuff." He said, putting a very strong emphasis on the word twilight. To those who did not knew, it would have meant nothing, but for Claire who actually knew what he was referring to, it made very much sense. She gulped.

"Are you sure he is?" She asked. 

"Yeah. Let him - and any of his friends who wants to tag along - go there. In fact, make sure at least he go there." He told her in a hard tone. She could easily imagine how angry he must be looking - she had always been good at annoying him.

"All right, I'll do it." She smiled, then paused.. "But you owe me one." She suddenly added.

The only answer from the other end was a sigh, and the sound of a phone being closed.

_________________________

Later that day, Misty and Ash sat on what had more or less become their bench in the park in the few days they had been in Blackthorn, watching the tall mountains that surrounded the city. The bright light of the sun reflected on the eternal snows, once again giving Ash the feeling that he was in a dream as the sparkling white cloak that covered the shoulders of the peak appeared before his eyes..

"It was beautiful wasn't it Mist?" He commented, pulling her closer to him, referring to what they had seen the night before.

"Yeah..." She turned toward him, and shock filled her face as she saw something on his own, something she had obviously not expected to see and that she found quite distressing. 

"Ash...is something wrong with you? Are you feeling sick or anything...?" she asked, sounding extremely worried. He looked at her curiously, not knowing what could have worried her so much.

"No...I'm all right...What's the problem Misty?" he answered, thinking back on the strange feeling that he had had the night before, when he had first seen the purple glow. This was the only time he had felt weird, not even wrong, since they had reached Blackthorn.

She did not answer and her eyes told him she was too stunned to utter a word. Instead, she silently took a mirror from her bag and handed it to Ash, her mouth still half-open, staring at him. Since it apparently was his face that had filled her with shock, he looked at it in the small mirror. He took a first look, and immediately saw that there was something different, something changed about himself, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not figure what it was. He looked again, trying harder to find what was changed about himself, but still not finding what it was.

Then he saw, and he felt his own mouth dropping open without a sound, as he watched what he saw in stunned silence . Before, his eyes had always been a dark brown.

Now, they were the exact same color as the eyes of those two Dragonairs - and as Danea, Claire, and a few others he had met for that matter.. A deep, sparkling purple that almost seemed to glow with an inner fire..

Chapter 8 : Shrine of the Dragons

Ash stared at the mirror for a long, very long time, not believing what his eyes were now telling him about themselves. There was no way his eyes could have changed color like that for no reason. He was NOT a pokemon. He did NOT evolve at all, let alone by the glow of a strange stone. A brief smile appeared on his lips at the idea, soon replaced by the worried frown that he could see, only far more worried ,on Misty's face.

"Ash! There you are! I've been looking for you." He heard a familiar voice from further off in the park and turned to face Claire walking toward them quite fast.

"Wha?" He said as he did so. "Oh, hi Claire!" He said, trying to sound as cheerful as he could.

"Something wrong?" She asked him, and though she sounded interested in what he was saying, there was almost an undertone of - could it be amusement? - in her voice.

"Yeah..." he replied as she came closer.

Of course, she immediately saw what was wrong upon reaching them, as she looked at him.

"Oh, that." She shook her head slightly, and to his annoyance Ash almost thought she was about to laugh at him. "It's nothing wrong." She continued shaking her head. "It happens once in a while when humans are exposed to the dragon stone." As she said so, he had to resist the urge to strangle her. There were after effects to witnessing the glow, and she had forgotten to warn them about that. "It varies from person to person. Mine was the ability to understand dragon pokemon, yours...Honestly, I don't know what yours will be. As I said, it changes." He breathed a sigh of relief as he realized that the after effects were not going to be anything bad.

"So...you're sure it's not a disease or anything..." Misty asked, obviously still worried.

"No, it's not." Claire sighed, then shook her head. "Don't worry Misty. He's going to be alright." She still seemed to want to laugh at them and their fear, but to be restraining herself.

Misty breathed a sigh of relief. "That's...good." She breathed, putting one arm around his waist and hugging him fiercely.

"Why were you looking for us?" Ash asked her, remembering what she had said upon her arrival.

"Ah, well...a...friend..." She seemed to choke a little on the last word "called, and asked me to make you an offer. I'm not too sure about it myself, but my *friend* insisted so..." she explained, though Ash noticed she wasn't giving much in the way of details.

"What?" Ash asked curiously, wondering what she would dislike so much.

"Well, you see that mountain there?" she said, pointing at what was by far the largest of the mountain in the vicinity, a mountain which was just east of the town.

"Yeah..." he answered, looking at the cloud-shrouded monster.

"Somewhere high up in the mountain, there is a...shrine, or something like that. I saw it once, but apparently not everyone who saw it remember it the same way." She slowly explained. "Anyway...he think you Ash might be interested in the shrine. He also said that if any of your friends wanted to tag along, I was to give them special clearance...." She sighed once the explanation was over.

"You seem to...dislike the idea...Why?" Misty asked, her eyes suspicious. Apparently, she was a bit unhappy with Claire over the matter of the change in color of Ash's eyes, and how she had conveniently forgotten to warn them about it.

"Well...going there has been...kind of...forbidden for the last ten years because too many people died going there...it takes a special clearance to get in now..." she explained.

"Sound dangerous..." said Ash, unsure about the whole idea suddenly.

"Oh, it is." The reply was quite clear. 

"I don't think...I don't think I'll go." He replied, not willing to risk his life to visit a shrine that he might, according to a gym leader who was far from open with them, find interesting.

"Coward, I see?" Claire said, and with a quick flicker of her wrists, she had her hand on his jacket - and his rising badge in her hand.

"You get it back when you get back from the shrine. Sorry Ash, I have orders." She told him, as she made sure to keep the Rising badge safe.

"Just who are you working for?" Misty asked her. "If you are after killing Ash..." she looked at Claire wonderingly, and Ash knew with a definite certitude that she was thinking about the person who had forced her to become Shadow.

"I'm not after killing him - or getting him killed." She replied with a toss of her head. "I've got orders from the league, and I'm doing what they tell me." She looked at him. "Now what is it going to be? The shrine or the badge?"

Ash shook his head in disgust, glaring at the gym leader. "The shrine."

Misty sighed. "If Ash's going, then I'm going to." She told Claire. "And let me tell you, you're really...." Her eyes were hard as she left it hanging. Ash and her both walked away angrily.

"One last detail." She looked at the two of them. "You'll have to leave your pokemon back here." She walked away.

As they returned to the pokemon center, walking through the town so that they could go prepare for the trek in the mountain that had been forced on them, they met Damian, who ran toward them.

"Where have you been?" he asked, a relieved look on his face.

"We were with Claire, remember? She invited us to go see something?" Misty gently reminded him.

"Oh, right. Sorry, I guess I forgot." He admitted. "What are we doing now? Are we leaving?" he asked.

"No...something else we have to do..." Misty replied evasively.

"Oh, k." He shrugged. "Don't take too much time though." He looked at them. "You wouldn't want to miss that competition...we aren't on a tight schedule or anything, but..." he left it hanging, and Ash nodded. Damian was right, he certainly did not want to take the risk of missing the tournament.

They entered the pokemon center, Damian instead going off to wander the city, probably to look at the ancient ruins or some other harmless and none too useful pastime he often went on. In the meantime, they gathered what they would need for their trip - food, warm clothes, as they, from what Claire had told them, expected to have to go quite high in the mountain, and the various odd items that might come in handy. They went up to sleep early that night, tired from their previous sleepless night, and wanting to get started at dawn the next day on mountain climbing.

The sun had barely started to rise, bringing a gray light over the world, when they woke up the next morning. In a world filled with shadow, they ate a quiet breakfast, trying not to think too much of the day that was ahead of them - maybe even days.

"Shouldn't we tell our pokemon?" Misty asked him as she pushed away her plate, having eaten as much as she could.

"Yeah, I guess we should." He nodded, picking his pokeballs from his belt and releasing his pokemon. They all appeared. Pikachu, who had stayed at the pokemon center for the night before, joined them. Briefly, Ash explained the situation to them, and they all looked at him strangely. Pikachu had a sad look in his eyes, and the look on Kadabra's face seemed to be even stronger...sorrow, perhaps? Ash could only wonder why his pokemon would have such feelings about him visiting a shrine. Charizard seemed curious, and so did Pidgeot. Houndoom nodded simply, his coal-like black eyes hard as stone. Eevee did not seem to understand much what he was saying, if at all.

Recalling his pokemon, Ash handed them over to the nurse whom they had informed of the fact that they would have to go away for a few days earlier. 

"I'll take care of them until your friends wake up." She nodded. Elayne and Damian had not yet risen, and Ash was a bit unsure still about the idea of leaving the two of them in charge of his pokemon, but he could see no other choice. Gary had not yet returned from his pokemon-catching trip in the mountain, and at least Elayne was a trainer like him, so she was bound to know how to take care of them. Still, he wished Gary was back, or that there was some other way.

They slowly walked out of the pokemon center, reluctant to approach the new step that loomed ahead of them - both philosophically and literally - the huge mountain that they would have to climb up, for a while at least, in order to reach the shrine.

"You ready?" Misty asked him, worries written all over her face.

"I guess I am." Ash said, feeling very unsure that he truly was. "As ready as I'll ever be." He told her, taking her hand in his.

"Well... " She looked at him. "Then I guess we should get started." She said hesitantly, her voice carrying the fear that she felt, the fear that both of them, or even worst, one of them would not come back.

Climbing the mountain was no easy task, the daunting size of the titan combining with steep slopes, and narrows way trapped between the foot of a cliff and the summit of a treacherous canyon. The fact that they had to try to do their best without the help of their pokemon did not help either, and Ash was struck by memories of his second Orange League gym challenge, where he had been forced to do much the same. Even using the walking sticks they had picked up early in the trek, it was not easy.

They stopped from time to time to rest, eat, or simply watch the stunning scenery - the gray and white of the mountains standing against the light blue of the pure sky, with the tiny Blackthorn barely visible far bellow. Finally, they reached a place that seemed to be the cabin that Claire had told them was near the entrance of the shrine. 

Ash pushed the door open, and peered in - only to let out a startled cry at the sight of a familiar figure waiting inside. His long brown hair hanging loose over his shoulders, his woolen cloak wrapped around him, and his swords lying before him as he sat cross-legged on the floor of the cabin, Gary seemed to be lost in thought.

"Gary?" He asked once the surprise had mostly passed away.

"Ash? I'm surprised to see you here." He replied slowly. "You are here to visit, the shrine, I assume?" he asked him. "And you too Misty?"

"Yeah." Ash nodded. "Claire kinda forced my hand in visiting it." He shook his head.

"Ah." Gary looked at Ash thoughtfully. "Personally, I'm here because I had to come back here. I came here -in secret - shortly before the Team Rocket trouble, and I was told to come back once I had done certain things." He smiled.

"You...you went there already?" Ash asked in surprise.

"Yeah. Wasn't that bad...all that happened was that I got to relive my life - but from the point of view of my friends and my family. Not that bad, as I said." He shook his head. "Though I admit that the parts were I got to be you when I was a jerk..." He shook his head slowly. "I'm really sorry about what I did back then Ash." He looked at his friend sadly.

"It's all right Gary." Ash smiled. His friend smiled back.

"Uh...can I make a suggestion?" Misty voice suddenly interrupted them.

"Of course dear." Ash smiled back, looking at her with a warm smile on his face.

"I think we should all get settled here for the night. Then, on tomorrow, we steps in the shrine. She suggested. "We can wait until after we're settled in to discuss, uh?" she pointed out.

"True." Garry nodded.

"Yeah, I guess we could do that." Ash added, starting to unpack his things in a corner of the room.

They talked for the better part of the evening, both of the shrines and of much beside, of the new tournament that they would soon face, and of the many strange events that had taken place recently. Team Rocket had been taken over, and Misty had been kidnapped. Then, there was the mysterious attempt at kidnapping Ash near Lake Rage, which made no sense at all.

When they woke up the next morning, after a night of good sleep, they were ready to face whatever was ahead, and they stepped confidently within the shrine. As they walked inside the strange stone building with huge pillars that had their base and top carved to look like dratini and dragonair, a strange white mist rose from the crystal-like ground. Soon, the light mist had become a full sized fog, and they had all lost trace of each other.

Chapter 9 : Ancestral Memories

Looking around in dismay, Ash tried to find Misty, but could not, as the thick white fog prevented him from seeing much that was not directly beside him. Gary was nowhere to be seen either, but Ash was far less worried about his friend than about his girlfriend. He kept on walking forward, calling out her name repeatedly in the hope that she would somehow hear him, and try to make her way toward him by the sound of his voice. 

As suddenly as it had risen from the ground, the strange fog lifted, leaving him able to see the world around him again. Even so, Misty was still nowhere to be found, and neither was Gary, despite his best effort at trying to find them. All there was that he could see was the crystal floor, which somehow seemed to be on the top of a fire or some other source of light as it shone, and the great crystal columns rising from the ground to support the roof, which Ash could barely see, but which seemed to be much the same as the floor.

He took a step forward, and the world seemed to blur around him, everything vanishing from sight in strange waves of distorted colors.

____________________________

As the world became visible again, Ash found himself in a completely different location. It was, unless he missed his guess, a house somewhere in Blackthorn. From what he could see through the windows, there were mountains everywhere, the same mountains he had seen for the last few days, their snow capped peaks shining as they challenged the sky. 

A young man, only a few years older than Ash himself, wearing a long cloak stood by the doorway that lead out of the room, his hand on the handle. Two slightly younger women Ash knew well sat on chairs by the old wooden table. One, her silver hair hanging loosely all around her head, had a look of pain on her face as she held a small crying baby in her arms. The other woman also held a baby, and Ash gasped as he realized who the baby had to be - himself.

__

What...what the hell is that? he wondered, looking at his mother, his aunt and the cloaked man, who seemed somehow familiar.

"Are you sure about it?" His mother asked softly, tears in her voice.

"Yeah...you said yourself you didn't want Ash to grow up in the spotlight..." the man shook his head.

"He'll hardly be able to avoid it anyway, with his last name the same as yours." Danea countered, holding the small form of Tanya close to her.

"That's why I'll make sure to have mine changed." The man countered. "It's not like many people know my last name yet." He shook his head. "It's the best I can do...to do what I have to and let you two have some peace." His eyes were sad as he said so.

"I know..." his mother nodded slowly. "Still...try to come back to see me sometime..." she carefully handled the baby she held - Ash himself - to Danea, and walked up to the man, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

"Take care Lance. I'm nothing without you." She whispered softly, and Ash gasped again as the name flew out of her lips. Lance - there was only one Lance who looked anything like that - Lance Blackthorn, the leader of the elite four. Ash had always wondered why he had such a name, now he knew. It was not the real name, it was a name changed in a matter of moment to ensure the anonymity of a young kid so that he could grow up in peace.

Himself. 

The world blurred around him again, and the vision faded.

_______________________

Taking one more step, Ash found himself surrounded by the forest of crystal column again. There was now a slight pulsing light within each of the column, as if the flames under the floor were now slowly spreading inside the great pillars of diamond.

As he took yet another step, the crystal forest vanished again.

_________________________

This time, the cyrstal forest became a real one, great trees lancing out toward the night sky above as Ash looked around, trying to find why he was seeing this new vision, what revelations awaited.

"Give me one good reason not to kill you" a voice snarled, Lance's. Ash turned to see a clearing slightly behind him. In the clearing, Lance was there, a gun in his hand aimed at a man's heart. The man looked like Giovanni for the most part, though there was something more sinister about him.

"Kill me. And you kill the father of your niece." The man answered. Ash felt as if had been struck in the face again by that declaration. The man, whom Lance was about to kill, was Tanya's father?

"One more reason to kill you. You RAPED my sister." Lance shot back, anger flaring in his eyes. "With the help of that traitor of a son..." Lance's anger seemed to be without end, and deep inside, Ash could do nothing but understand why Lance felt that way about it. Had he not been frozen in place by the strange spell that allowed him to see and hear, he would have attacked the man, putting all his strength in a savage strike.

"Giovanni? A traitor? To me, perhaps." The voice of the man was calm and at the same time condescending. "He didn't know a thing about what I had planned. And thanks to you, he paid the price of betraying me." The man smirked. "And back to the point, you could never even harm me, Ketchum." He said mockingly, and the last few doubts Ash had had about the earlier vision vanished - Lance, the leader of the Elite Four and the Kanto chief of state, was indeed his father. His mind reeled as he realised that no matter how much he did, there was almost no way for him to ever equal his father.

He looked again at the scene, and froze in panic as he saw that the man had kicked Lance's gun out of his hand. He had also drawn a gun of his own, and now the situation was dramatically reversed. Ash wanted to help desperately, fighting against the unseen bonds that prevented him from doing anything but see, hear and feel the events. 

"At last. Lance Ketchum, at the end of my gun. Just where I can kill him." There was a deep satisfaction in the voice of the man. "You don't know how long I waited for this moment...I'll kill you...but first I'll make you suffer...like your sister suffered..."

Ash watched in utter despair as Lance closed his eyes, waiting for the pain, and for the bullet to tear him apart. There was the sound of a bullet being fired, but Ash was sure that it had not come from the man's gun. The man slowly toppled to the ground, falling, a darker spot barely visible on the back of his suit. Ash turned his eyes slowly, and saw. At the edge of the clearing, a much younger looking Giovanni stood, a smoking gun in his hand.

"For Danea." he whispered, and Ash felt unspoken pain in the voice. 

The vision blurred and vanished as the wind of time carried away the memory.

_________________

As the forest of crystal appeared again, Ash barely noticed the fact that the light of the column had become slightly brighter, as his eyes rested on a figure standing further ahead, though there was no way for him to tell if it was Gary, Misty, or someone else, perhaps someone lost forever in the crystal column, one of those whom Claire had said never had returned.

He tried to run toward the figure, but before he could do so, yet another vision swallowed him.

__________________

There were nine of them, gathered, and in front of them, a male figure clothed in black. A figure clothed in black, with great black feathered wings, with their tips looking almost as if they had been soaked in blood, their crimson color making for a surprisingly beautiful look. Long black hair covered his shoulders, and he held a long, slightly curved sword in each of his two hands.

Aside from the fact that they all wore long cloaks and a metallic circlet over their head, there was no way to claim that the nine standing against him were similar looking - nine, and two others really. Looking past the group of warriors he could see immediately, there were two more. One held a set of sword he knew well, her body clad in what almost seemed to be a bathrobe, with a strangely shaped belt holding it together at her waist. Long raven-black hair flew in the wind as she started desperately at the nine warriors and their mysterious opponent. Yet again, Ash found his eyes drawn to the two blades she was holding, the two that now belonged to Gary. The other seemed to be a musician of some sort, perhaps a bard, as he held a golden harp close to him.

The dark angel's two swords seemed to repulse the light of the sun.

"So. My sister's champions have assembled?" he asked the nine warriors. One of them, with a golden circlet resting on the top of his head and a long blue cloak with the shapes of golden dragons on it answered.

"We are ready." 

With that, the nine warriors drew their weapons - bow, blade, spear and mace - and charged at the dark angel, throwing themselves at the being Ash could only guess was the lord of night Giovanni had told them about what seemed eons ago.

As the sword of the blue cloaked warrior clashed with one of the blade of the dark angel, the vision vanished.

_________________________

Ash stood still for a moment, his mind still reeling from what he had just seen - a mythical fight that, according to legend, had taken place about a thousand year ago. A thing that had, as far as he was concerned, never happened. Something that was just a dream, the result of someon's deranged imagination running a bit too wild. And yet he had seen it, along with all those other vision filled with truth. Opening his eyes to the light-filled crystal columns, he again caught sight of the figure ahead of him. This time, there was no doubt that it was Misty, but no doubt either that she was crying.

Ash desperately tried to avoid falling in new visions as he fought to reach her, but was taken by another as he tried to move.

__________________________

A mighty storm raged around the small ship, waves trying to break it apart, as the young raven-haired boy kept his hand tightly wrapped around the mast, so as not to be taken away by the wind or by the falling water that swept the boat each time the sailors were not quick enough to avoid the roaring waves. 

The boy seemed to be crying in fright, clutching a sword in his hand that seemed oddly familiar to Ash, as if had seen it before, yet he knew it wasn't either of Gary's. A girl came, and put her arms protectively around the shoulders of the boy. He turned to look at her, fear on his face.

"Tomoyo?" he asked, frightened.

"We'll be alright Akira-chan." The girl told him, holding him tightly. "We'll be alright."

Another wave crashed over the ship, and the vision vanished.

___________________________

Misty was now only a shadow as the glaring light of the crystal columns became too strong, a barely visible shadow. He tried again to run toward her, knowing that it was more than probably a futile gesture, yet compelled to by the sound of sobbing he heard from her direction. Whatever she was seeing, if anything, had to be tearing her apart.

The light of the column seemeed to flood him as yet another vision appeared.

_____________________________

Again, he found himself in a great forest, but this time, in the middle of the day, the light of the sun even so barely appearing, held at bay by the leaves of the great trees that surrounded him. There was a path in the middle of the forest, on it, a young woman rode a strange beast that looked like a Rapidash, except that the mane was not burning, and that it had no horn. The woman herself had long black hair, and a sword in a scabbard hanging from her belt.

As she raced on the road that ran in the middle of the forest, there was a tiny roar of flame in front of her. Her...creature...stopped in surprise, and the young woman jumped off it, going toward the source of the flame. Ash saw it quite soon - a wounded baby charmander in the forest. The woman seemed about to draw her sword, and Ash felt like screaming...

Then, she seemed to renounce drawing the sword, and instead picked up the charmander, who looked at her curiously, yet fearfully at the same time. She gently stroked the creature head, and Ash could see the mixed emotions in her eyes as well. On one side, this was a creature the kind of which she was sworn to kill, on the other, it seemed so helpless...the emotions of the young woman seemed to play themselves in Ash's mind, as if he could feel everything she felt.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure you are safe." She whispered to the charmander, holding it tightly. "I think you could be much better as a living ally than as a dead enemy..." she added. 

As the world vanished from around him, Ash realized in stunned amazement that the woman had to be the first pokemon trainer ever, or something to that effect. 

_________________________

There was only light as he stepped out of the dream one last time, light and a strange object lying on the floor. He bent to pick it up, wondering what it was, and as soon as his hand touched it, he fainted, the world fading completely from around him, this time not to be replaced by visions.

Chapter 10 : What Might Have Been

Looking desperately through the fog, Misty tried to see where Ash was, feeling suddenly very cold and alone. There was no one else with her, and she had to face something unknown, something that might be dangerous. She tried to steel herself, but for once in her life, she simply could not summon the strenght to face it. 

"Ash...Ash? Where are you?" she shouted, looking around, desperately trying to find him"Ash...please, it's not funny." She added pleadingly, but no answer came. As the fog lifted, she still could not see Ash, but only a forest of crystal column, an ominous sight somehow. A place she was reluctent to enter.

She took a step forward, and the column faded from view, replaced by something she knew all too well.

__________________

The streets of Olivine were damp, as more water fell from the sky in a fierce thunderstorm. It was the single moment were Shadow and Danea had battled, and she could see the orbs of darkness and the arrows of light facing each other again in a dreadful showdown.

Again, as had happened the last time, Ash rose, shouting something to Danea. Again, Shadow turned to throw an orb of darkness at the young man. Misty watched in horror as she lived again that fateful moment. Only, this time, Richie knocked Ash to the ground a second later.

The chunk of brick fell on Ash, crushing his skull, and Misty screamed in horror, a scream that none of the others there, Shadow or Danea, Richie or Gary, could hear..

___________________

Hot wet tears fell from her eyes as the vision faded away, as she realized again how close they had come to loosing each other in that fateful moment.

Without Ash, there was no way she could go on. A thousand time she had asked herself what would have happened if things had turned out otherwise at a moment or another in her life. With a sinking feeling, she realized that the crystal column meant to show her what would have happened.

What might have been - the dark side of it. How things would have turned worse, had her past been different. She looked around, wondering where Ash was, and reluctantly took a step forward, hoping that there would be no new visions. Unfortunately, as she took a step forward, swirling mists envelopped her, and the world vanished, replaced by images of, she supposed , what might have been.

___________________

The blue haired young man looked at her - the girl she supposed was her - curiously, and a bit fearfully as well. She wore a Team Rocket uniform, strangely. As she looked again, she realized with a start that the man talking to her was James. They were sitting in a ditch by the roadside, in some desolate, empty country side.

.

"Are you sure you want to go that far to get him?" he asked her, his voice shaking. "He might not survive."

"So?" She shrugged. "That pokemon is unique. Team Rocket need the money. I don't care if my father has a "no casualty" order out. I'll do what it takes." She replied bluntly. Looking at herself - or rather, at this darker side of her, Misty saw that she was holding a gun in her hand.

"He's there." James reported, and, looking where he was looking, Misty gasped. Ash was there, walking on the road. 

"You got the stun gun ready James?" her dark mirror image asked him. He nodded, and the real Misty watched in horror as they leveled one weapon at Ash, the other at Pikachu.

She did not even have the time to scream in horror, as the world vanished from around her.

__________________________

Hot tears ran down from her cheek, as she looked around ,trapped. She did not wish to stay trapped her forever, but going out of the columns meant facing more visions, perhaps darker visions. Maybe, if she had not met Ash, things would have been better for him. 

She mustered her courage, and walked forward, facing darker visions with each step, visions of what would have been had they not met. How she would have died, how he would have died a thousand time. How they simply could not go go on without each other.

He kept dying, and each time he died alone, each time he died because he was alone, because there was no one to help him, to support him. To simply be with him. And each time he died, she felt as if a piece of her was thorn away from her spirit, as if she was dying with him. With the end of each vision, the room seemed to fill with light, light brighter than any she had ever faced, as if she was walking inside the sun itself.

And then, she took a step, and no vision came to face her, not that she would have seen them as her vision was blurred from so many tears, the tears she had wept as she had fought to make her way forward in the crystal columns.

As her eyes finally dryed out, having no more tears to shed, she looked around, only to see, right in front of her, the sinuous body of an amethyst-eyed dragonair..

__

"Why are you weeping? " the voice of the dragon was filled with sympathy as she looked at her with big, calm eyes. With a start, Misty realized that dragonair did not talk, and a second later that the voice was actually within her mind.

"Because..." she could find no way to express it, to tell the creature what she had seen.

__

"The alternate realities." The dragon nodded."_The terrible sight of what might have been, how things you wished for so long would have harmed those now closest to you. It is the most terrible test of those that the columns may unleash, but it is also the one that temper the strongest souls._" 

Misty nodded weakly, though as it was she certainly did not feel like she had a strong soul. 

"Just...just who...what...are you?" she asked finally, looking at the creature in wonder.

"_I am known as Syldra_" the little dragon nodded. "_As to what I am, I am a dragonair, obviously, though I am also the one they call the Oracle of Waves, and as such the one who is to follow as one of your companions, Lady of Mists. Now, I need you to follow me._" 

No longer trying to understand what was happening, Misty followed the dragon down one of the flight of stairs, wondering where it was that she was leading her. After what seemed like hours of walking down, they finally reached a great iron door. There was no doorknob, but all it seemed to need was a simple push from Misty's hand to open. She slowly stepped in the room, the dragon waiting at the door, her purple eyes shining with ancient purpose. As she walked in the room, Misty could see a dark shape lying on the floor. She walked toward it and picked it up. It was a beautiful scabbard, red, gold and black, with a sword resting in it. The handle of the sword seemed made of gold, with turquoise gemstones and nacre. Misty stared at the hilt for a long time, before slowly drawing the sword, wondering for a brief moment how it was possible for a metallic blade to have survived as long as it must have been there without rusting at all.

Yet, somehow, it had survived it, and there were no traces of rust on the blade as she looked at it, her eyes looking back at her as they reflected on the gleaming blade. She slashed at empty air, wondering how it was that such a good sword - even without much knowledge of weapon she could feel that the curved blade she held was of extremely good quality - could have found its way to the shrine in the first place.

As she held the sword still, she felt as if a weight was slowly settling down on her shoulders, and she fell to the ground, her eyes heavy. Behind her, Syldra's eyes were filled with a mysterious purple glow.

________________________________

As the fog lifted around him, Gary only smiled. He had been there before, and he knew he had already passed the test the other two would be put through. It had not been easy, but he had made it through. Now, he was coming to finish what he had begun on that day, over a year before.

"_You have returned."_ the voice welcomed him calmly. Gary did not answer, there was no answer to give, as the truth was already known to both of them.

"_It is good that you have. Follow me._" The voice added, and a strange pokemon appeared. Without reluctance, Gary followed him.

"_You have requested our help in coming to term with the spirit that haunts you._" The voice spoke right through his mind, and again Gary did not answer. They arrived in a small circular room.

"_To come to term with the spirit which haunts you, you must accept the burden she carried. Only then will the two of you be able to work a one._"

Gary hesitated. He had no idea what the burden was, had no idea what accepting it might mean for him.

"_Since the dawn of time there has been nine oracles, the guardians of destiny._" The voice explained. "_The oracle of Heavens, the oracle of Waves, the oracle of Light, the oracle of Rage, the oracle of Nature, the oracle of Spirit, the oracle of Night, the oracle of Crystal, and the oracle of Change. Eight pokemon and the last one a human._" The voice continued. "_That burden is not always obvious, it must be accepted by the one who is to bear it._" It explained again, adding to what it had already said. "_Tomoyo Ookido, your ancestor and the spirit which haunts you was the Oracle of Change, a thousand years ago. Will you now take the burden?_"

Gary hesitated, an ominous feeling creeping through his bones. He knew that accepting the burden would not go without a price, that there was something about it that should have scared him completely. Yet, he was not scared.

"I'll do it. I don't know if I'll live to do it, but I'll try." He answered, nodding.

"_Then, it is time for you to come face to face with the spirit that has haunted you for a long time._" the voice spoke to him again, as he felt pain flashing in his hands, looking upon them to see a tiny wheel-like mark burned in the flesh of each hand.

The world blurred. When he looked around himself again, he found that he was in what seemed to be an empty room. There was no source of light that he could see, but yet, there was no darkness, as if the walls themselves were the light, though it was a pale, weak light. A woman stood in front of him, a woman who seemed to be perhaps in her early twenties. She wore a long blue silken kimono, the traditional clothe of the people of Hosho. Her dark black hair were tied behind her head, and her eyes were hard, the eyes of a warrior.

"So you are the one I live in." She looked at him curiously, bowing slightly. Not knowing why, Gary returned the bow.

"I suppose I am." He answered carefully.

"The ultimate great-grandson of my brother." She continued. "My descendant. It is good to meet you at last."

"That's true." Gary nodded. "Though I don't understand why you haunt me." He admitted.

"Haunt you? That's not the exact term. I do not haunt you, I guide you. And...to be honest, I hoped to be reborn with your sister, so that I would be able to be with Ash." She admitted, sighing. Gary did not react, even though this explained - as he had started to suspect already - the way he felt drawn to Ash against his will, as if a part of his mind yearned to be with the young man, while the part that - as he realized now - was truly him yearned to be with Duplica. Or rather, had yearned to be with Duplica, as he obviously could no longer be with her. He sighed.

"Why? Why would you want to be with Ash?"

"Because of Akira. He was Ash's ancestor - and the man I was in love with." She shook her head sadly.

"And now...now, Ash is a lot like Akira, so you hoped to be able to be with him." Gary nodded, piecing together what he had heard her saying those time she took over his body and what she had just told him.

"Yes." She nodded slowly. "I knew he would be like Akira, because his family...his family has certain peculiarity that ensure that every thousand year, one of them is born who is the same in spirit as the first of them." She explained. Gary nodded again, looking at the strange mark of a turning wheel that had mysteriously appeared in his hands. The mark of the Oracle of Change, he supposed, as he noticed that the same mark appeared in the hands of Tomoyo.

"But now, you can't be with him." Gary looked at her, feeling waves of sympathy overwhelming him.

"Obviously." She answered shortly, and Gary could feel that she was fighting to avoid weeping. "It is not really a change. I loved him, he didn't love me back then. Now he couldn't even begin to love me." She shook her head sadly, and wet tears appeared in the corner of her eyes.

Without a word, Gary rose to hold her in a comforting hug. She let her head rests on his shoulder as she wept.

He had no idea how long they stood like that, before the world blurred again and he found himself sitting in the log cabin near the shrine. Inside him, the spirit of Tomoyo seemed to be resting, no longer haunting him. Ash and Misty were nowhere to be seen, as he slowly walked outside to look at the world shrouded in the shadow of midnight. Picking up his belonging, he went to take a walk, hoping to reach a place he had seen twice already before dawn, so that he could see the sunrise, which was spectacular from that one place.


	3. Part 3 : The Path of Victory

Part 3 : The Path of Victory

Chapter 11 : Together

Dawn found Ash and Misty sleeping on the floor of a wooden cabin, three set of eyes locked on them. Two belonged to dragonair, and the last belonged to a large, old looking dragonite. Besides him, Aysen could feel his sister Syldra worrying about the one who was like a father to the entire swarm of dragon-type pokemon living around the aptly-named Dragonhorn - the great mountain that dominated the city that the humans called Blackthorn with its shadow.

The Dragonhorn tribe, as it was named, was the tribe of dragon-type pokemon that had, slowly, over the year, carved the shrine. Of course, no humans would believe it - the idea of a human believing any other creature was able to build something was somewhat ridiculous, as far as he was concerned. Of all creations, humans were probably the most self-centered beast, thinking of themselves as superior to every other species. Of course, it was obvious to anyone that the dragon were actually the superior species, but no human would ever believe that. Yet, could they have built a place such as the Shrine, infusing it with the powerful magic that would let those who dared to step inside face their destiny?

He felt amused eyes resting on his shoulders and turned to face Tairan, the elder dragon of Dragonhorn. The slender neck of the great creature rose, revealing his benevolent face and wise eyes. His golden and blue-green wings were folded on either side of his large body, and he seemed to be waiting, perhaps for the two human they had carried out of the shrine to wake up. The test they had faced was hard, and they now rested from the ordereal.

"Was it truly needful, Aisen?" the voice of the great dragon was peaceful and calm. It sounded wise, too, the voice of one who had observed the passing of time and the foolishness of the living for hundreds of years. Which, of course, was the case.

"Yes, Tairan." The smaller dragon replied, nodding. "The girl had to forget about what might have been different in the past, so that what was would stop weighting her down. And the boy, though ambitious, needed to be shown that what he wanted to do was nothing after what his ancestors had done." He shook his head. As much as he disliked human, he had not liked submitting these two to the test they had been forced to face. But there were things that just had to be, that were meant to be that way.

"Ah, I see. But still, remember that this Ash is to be your friend and companion, my descendant, as this Misty is to be the friend and companion of your sister." He looked at them both sternly. "The destiny of the oracles is not an easy path to walk, but it must be walked by someone. You two have accepted the burden, do not back down now." His eyes blazed with intent. "You serve the prophecy of twilight, the balance and the light now. The time for silly games is past for both of you."

"Yes Tairan." Aysen sighed as he nodded. The idea of having to work at the side of a human, even one as...different from most human as Ash was, one who almost felt like there was a side of him that was deeply connected to the pokemon, was just plain disheartening. 

"Tairan? Why did you come?" Syldra asked slowly. "If I may ask, that is..." Her eyes were downcast.

"We must all play our part in destiny child. Mine required from me to come here, and from Raiden to assume the leadership of the tribe." The old wyrm shook his head. "My part in destiny is coming to an end Syldra, while yours and Aysen are beginning."

Without turning, Aysen could feel his sister's eyes filling with tears, tears she would not shed, but tears she would feel all the same. Tairan had been there, a solid rock, a fact of life since their birth, for both of them. And now, it seemed soon he would no longer be there.

"Don't worry Syldra. My body might be about to depart from this world...but my spirit will remain for a long time yet. A time much longer than you might think." The smile on the lips of the great dragon was thin and mysterious, the smile of someone who knew much more than he was willing to reveal.

"I believe that this Ash person is waking up." Aysen suddenly stated, watching the boy stirring as his eyes slowly opened.

On a gesture from the great old wyrm, both Aysen and Syldra slowly went to find some empty pokeball on the two trainers, activating them, and letting themselves be caught so that they would not be located right at first sight.

__________________________

Ash yawned as he slowly rose, feeling as if his jaws were about to be torn apart. Looking around him, he wondered how he had gotten back in the cabin - the last thing he remembered being trying to pick up an object on the floor.

Looking around, he first noticed the fact that a long blue cloak was resting on his shoulders, then a split second later, a blue scabbard covered with golden dragons on the floor close to him, holding a slightly curved sword, similar to the longer of Gary's two, but longer. Drawing it, he took a moment to stare at the gleaming metal, before sheathing it again, and tying the belt which held the scabbard around his waist. He turned toward Misty, and noticed with a start that she wore similar clothes, though her cloak was aqua, matching the color of her eyes and slightly lighter than her shirt - the color of a tropical sea. There was a sword resting near her as well, also in a scabbard, though her scabbard was slightly different in color and shape than his.

Continuing to look around, he finally noticed the great golden dragon resting in the entrance, and stared at it for a while. The enormous beast seemed to be sleeping, though he was not sure about that. Ash continued to stare at it. True, he had seen Dragonite before, but this one was more than twice the size, perhaps even more than thrice the size of any other dragonite he had seen in his life, and Ash could barely believe the creature had found a way in the cabin, though the door was quite large, admittedly.

"[i]_So you are Ash._[/i]" The great beast looked at him as his eyes glowed. The voice rang through his mind, and Ash stared at the creature in surprise. None of the dragonite he had met so far were able to use telepathy, but yet somehow this one could. He slowly walked away from the beast, more than a little frightened by the strange invasion of his mind that was taking place.

"[i]_Do not fear me. I mean you no harm._[/i]" The mental voice was somehow soothing, a calm, wise voice, a peaceful voice. The eyes of the creature seemed to glow with a soft purple light, and Ash stared at it some more.

"How...how are you doing that?" He finally asked, his eyes still wide.

"[i]_I simply have been in this world for a long time, and I know more than most about the powers of the mind._[/i]".

Ash shook his head. The whole concept of a pokemon other than a psychic being able to use telepathy was still something he found hard to accept, let alone having to face one such, especially one who was as large as the one he faced was.

"[i]_Now I will leave...but we will soon meet again Ash. Your destiny is too close to mine to allow otherwise._[/i]" the dragon smiled at him. "[i]_Farewell, child. May the spirit of all dragons protect you._[/i]". 

With that, the great dragon pushed the great door open, revealing that he could go through it, though it was a tight fit. Ash watched the great beast go, bewildered. The dragon had said many things to him, most of which he found just plain confusing, while others he tried not to think about, especially his reference to destiny. After the events in the Shamuti island over a year before he had hoped that his destiny would just be something along the line of becoming a pokemon master and living happily ever after, but something in the old dragon's words made him think that apparently fate wanted it otherwise. He sighed. After all, wasn't saving the world from destruction once more than enough for destiny? On the other hand, he reminded himself, his ancestors had done much more than that, at least as far as he was concerned.

He heard someone stirring behind him, and turned to see Misty rising from her place on the floor, pushing away the cover and flashing him a tender smile. 

"Good morning Misty." He told her, smiling back and admiring her openly as her orange-red hair fell on her shoulders, a cascade of fire covering her head, and as her aqua eyes caught the light of the sun that shone through the windows, deep pools in which he felt he could drown. He looked at her again, remembering her tears in the shrine, how she had seemed like she hated herself so much.

"Are you all right my love?" he asked her softly, staring deep in her eyes. "I heard you crying in the shrine..." he looked at her, his face full of concern.

"Well...I guess I am now...I guess..." she shook slightly, and then threw her arms around his shoulders, hugging him fiercely. He wrapped his own arms tightly around her shoulders, holding her tightly. 

"I had to see...they made me see how everything could have turned different...if a little thing had changed in the past...things I even wished happened another way..." She shuddered. "It was horrible...nearly all the time it ended up with you dead..." She held him even tighter than before. "Promise me Ash. Promise you won't die before me." Her eyes were full of tears.

"Shhh...I'll do everything I can Misty. I promise I'll do my best to be with you forever." He held her tightly. She looked at him, brushing away the tears with the touch of an hand, a slow smile appearing on her face. She kissed him softly, her lips softly brushing against his. She then looked at him again, most of the sadness gone from her eyes.

"You Ash? What did you see there?" she asked him, her hands still wrapped tightly around his shoulders.

"That even if I manage to become a pokemon master, it'll be nothing in comparison to what the rest of my family did." He looked at her. There was no sadness, no such emotion wasted, only perhaps a slight feeling that he would never live up to what his ancestors had done.

"Really?" Her eyes were looking at him curiously.

"I got to see what they did. There was a woman who was the first pokemon trainer ever. A guy, Akira I think - he led the bunch who fought against that dark one your father was telling us about." He stopped, trying to remember who else there had been. "Aside from that, there weren't that many, outside my father." He stopped.

"And?" She asked.

"And what? He grinned at her, then his face became serious again. "My father's Lance Blackthorn - you know, Elite Four leader, Kanto chief of state, that kind of things." he shook his head. "I'd say that pokemon master isn't as good as chief of state and elite four leader."

"I guess I see what you mean. Though you DID save the world back in the orange islands...that's something none of them did - even that - Akira, was that it? - didn't exactly save the world."

"Yeah, but I didn't exactly do that alone...you helped a lot, so did Melodie and my pokemon..." he answered.

"And I'm sure Akira didn't pull off what he did alone. Lance had his pokemon too, and obviously that girl wouldn't have managed to become the first pokemon trainer without a pokemon, uh?" She pointed out, holding him tightly. "Say what you want Ash, but you'll always be the greatest as far as I'm concerned." She tightened her hold on him.

"Thanks Misty. But there's no way I'd be as great as you are." He smiled, holding her just as tightly as she held him. Their lips met again, and he stopped thinking about his worried, letting himself be filled with the feeling of their shared love.

___________________________

Gary watched the world from the top of the cliff, wondering how the world was, trying to feel for the presence of the other oracles, the nine of them. Already, the sense of their presence, though some of them were thousand of miles away from him, was overwhelming. There was once almost directly to the south, slightly to the east. Somewhat to the west of Pallet, he could definitely feel that one, though he could not say which one it was. Two were in the mountains close to him, but the sense of their presence was strangely blanked. He could feel another very slightly to the south, and directly east, probably in the vicinity of Saffron. Another seemed to be slightly north of Cerulean city, perhaps near mount Moon, and a fifth close to Cinnabar Island. There was yet another in the mountain, somewhat to the northwest of the first one, which was still to the south-east of where he was. There was another one in what felt like the vicinity of Fuchsia, the last one.

He looked again at the mark that still appeared very clearly on the skin of his hand, a wheel turning. He had no idea what price there would be to pay for being an oracle, but he knew there would be one.

Chapter 12 : Soul Gift

The wind tore around the roots of the dragonhorn, striking the lone figure that stood by the only path up the mountain, a figure clothed in black, long dark hair tied in a ponytail. A lone figure, waiting for the return of his friends, wondering what had possessed them to accept to go up there.

With a weary sigh, Damian looked away, thinking about whether or not he should make sure Claire would play for what she had done to his sister and to his friend. Already, there was little hope that they would ever come back, after two weeks. One week was the time that was usually spent up there, beyond ten day was said to be hopeless, though according to some legend Claire had mentioned, some people had survived for so much as two weeks. But those were legend, and it was hard, if not impossible to know what was false and what was true in that.

He sighed again, not willing to accept that they were both probably dead by now. Ash was one of his few friends, something they had slowly become over the year they had been travelling together. And more than that, he was also the only one of the nine Damian had found so far, and as such someone who was essential for the balance of the world. Loosing him now, before the time of destiny could take place, would be an absolute disaster.

And loosing Misty would be just as bad, if not worst, though on a more personal level. For years, she had been the only point of light in the darkness, the only one to welcome him as a human being, to be really nice toward him, to actually treat him as a friend, and a close one. Barring Elayne, she was probably the single most important person in his life, and one of those he could not afford to loose, not and retain his sanity. Already, it was only Elayne's love that had kept him from making any attempt at ending his life when he had heard of her so-called death a year earlier.

He could not accept their death, but yet, after well over a week, there was little chance that they would come back one day. He sighed, and turned, noticing Elayne walking toward him, her eyes sad.

"I don't think they'll come back." She told him sadly. "I mean, maybe they'll get lucky and come back, but what are the chances?" She said, then noticed how each word seemed to bite her boyfriend. "I'm sorry Damian...it's just...maybe you should admit it to yourself?" She wrapped her arms tightly around him. He almost pushed her away, but resisted the impulse. She was far from wrong, and he far from right, and no matter what, he still loved her.

"No. I'm not going to admit anything to myself, They have to be alive." He answered, keeping emotions out of his voice.

"You might as well admit it Damian...Claire is just waiting for you to admit it before sending the information that two young trainers died to the newspaper. And you know letting Ash get killed like that is probably going to get her fired"

"I see I'm not the only one who heard about Ash from his father." He smiled. "He isn't dead. I just know he isn't...he can't be dead." He looked at her, not explaining about the prophecies of twilight, or about how the powers would not let destiny go awry like that, not as long as they had a say in it - and he knew they still did. "One last night?" he suddenly asked, feeling very sure that they would be there by the next morning.

"I don't think it will change a thing, but if it makes you feel better, alright. I'll even wait with you." She smiled, sitting down by a rock in the path, watching him with loving eyes as he did the same. He looked back at her, wrapping an arm tightly around her shoulders as they waited side by side.

_________________________

Night had long since fallen, and Elayne had fallen asleep as well, her head resting on Damian's shoulder. As he waited, fighting to struggle awake, he felt a great shadow passing between him and the moon. He turned and watched in awe as an enormous dragonite landed by him, one who seemed from his face to have lived a thousand year, with eyes filled with wisdom.

"[i]_I salute you, Seeker._[/i]" the creature looked at him. Damian nodded in acknowledgement.

"And I suppose I should salute Tairan?" He answered, looking at the dragon.

"[i]_You should.I am, however, surprised that my name is remembered among your kind._[/i]"

"You are rather commonly mentioned in the tomes dealing with the last time of destiny, and I read most of them." Damian replied. "I was not aware that you were still alive, however."

"[i]_As it should be. I have come to wait for your friend, the child._[/i]" he explained. "[i]_His destiny and mine are deeply interwined._[/i]"

"They are coming back?" Damian asked, his heart filling with sudden pure joy. He had been right, they would be alive, and they would be back soon.

"[i]_Yes. They should be there in the morning, Three oracles should be with them, although one of them has yet to find the one he is meant to guide._ [/i]" The great dragon nodded, smiling.

"Oracles? As in, more than one?" Damian shook as he realized what it meant. He had known Ash was one of the nine, but what Tairan implied seemed to mean that Misty was one of them as well. 

Of course, it made perfect sense, especially considered in hindsight. Ash was clearly the child of the dragon, and the prophecies spoke about one of the nine going through fire and shadow to stand at the side of the child, to be bound there by a love that would have saved her. Misty, as it happened, fit the description perfectly. He sighed, knowing the burden that this would leave on his sister's shoulders, a burden no one would take if they had the choice.

"The third oracle...the oracle of change, I suppose?" he asked suddenly.

"[i]_Yes._[/i]" The great dragon nodded, then closed his eyes, seeming to blend right among the rock, becoming somehow nearly invisible. A moment later, Damian felt his own eyes becoming heavier, as he fell asleep, is own head resting next to Elayne's.

_________________________

"Wake up sleepy head!"

The voice rang in the middle of his dreams, and for a moment he wondered why Elayne would tell him that when they were very busy doing things that had very little to do with waking up, but as his eyes flashed open, he realized it had all been a dream, and surprisingly that Elayne was still sleeping, her head resting on his shoulders. But if she had not been the one to call him like that, who had?

He looked around, only to notice the three set of legs right in front of him, looking up to see the familiar faces of Ash, Misty and Gary. Even with what Tairan had told him the night before, he still felt his heart filling with relief as he sprang to his feet, hugging his sister tightly.

"You're back!" he said, his voice filled with the relief he felt.

"Of course we're back! You really thought we'd leave you alone?" Misty answered, her eyes filled with mischief.

"No, but I was starting to be worried." He answered.

"We haven't been gone that long..." Ash stated, though he sounded unsure.

"Well...actually, you've been gone for about fifteen days Ash..." Damian watched as the information sank in.

"Fifteen...days?" Misty looked at her brother in stunned amazement. "But...it only seemed like a day or two..."

"We'll have to hurry to leave." Ash suddenly stated. "Otherwise we'll never make it to the Indigo Plateau in time.

"You're right about that Ash." Elayne stated, as they turned toward her, watching her rise from where she had been sitting. "And it's all your fault."

"Hey!" Ash protested. "Claire stole my Rising Badge and wouldn't give it back unless I went there." He explained.

"Oh, she did, did she?" Elayne muttered. "I think I'll pay a visit to miss Gym Leader, Rocket-style."

"I might just decide to give you a hand with that." Damian agreed, glaring in the general direction of the gym.

"We kinda HAVE to pay a visit to her anyway. You know, so that your sister don't get to see her own obituary - again." Elayne looked mischievously at Misty.

"Yeah. I think once was enough for me." Misty grinned, even though the last time it had happened, there had been nothing to grin about. Ash wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulders.

______________________________

Ash held Misty tightly, not interested at all in letting her go. The fact was, he had been trying very hard not to think about the events of Violet, a year ago, but Elayne's innocent comment had reminded him of that. Misty held him tightly, too. He looked at her, smiling, and she smiled back.

Suddenly, there was a yell of pain from besides them, and Ash saw a share rearing from the rock - a great dragon, a shape which he knew. Only, this time, unlike in the morning the day before, the beast seemed to be dying, or at least badly wounded.

"[i]_Child...at last...you are here..._[/i]" The great dragon seemed to be suffering.

"What's happening?" Ash looked at the creature, filling himself filling with panic. The fact that the great dragon was about to die seemed somehow dreadful to him.

"[i]_I am dying...After...a thousand year._[/i]" The creature paused frequently, and Ash suspected it was related to pain breaking his concentration, though he could not be sure.

"But..." he started to protest, then realized it was certainly pointless.

"[i]_Come...come near...me._[/i]" The dragon looked at him, and Ash approached the dragon warily, wondering what it was that the creature wanted. Yet, he walked next to the dragon, and put his hands on the head of the great beast.

"[i]Thank...you. Now, I can die...in peace.[/i]" The eyes closed, and the great beast stopped struggling, the head dropping on the ground. A white mist floated from its body, gathering around the head.

And suddenly, the mist touched Ash's arm, and seemed to be drawn inside. Startlingly, there was no pain, as Ash felt the...thing sliding within him, becoming one with him, as he felt himself weakening. He struggled to stand, watching the white mist continuing to float out of the body of the dragon and in his own.

"What's happening?" He heard Misty screaming.

"I don't know..." Damian sounded as amazed as his sister, as if, for once, he was encountering a phenomenon he had never heard about.

"Me neither..." Elayne's voice sounded just as amazed. "I...I don't have any idea what it could be..."

"Soul Gift." Gary's voice suddenly said. "My grandfather mentioned that once...a legend he didn't believe in." His friend seemed to be hardly able to believe what he was seeing.

"What is it?" He heard Misty asking Gary, her voice filled with panic.

"I don't know much about it...my grandfather mentioned it once or twice..." he shook his head. "From what I understand, the legend say that some pokemon can, when they die, transfer their soul to a human...with all their powers..." Ash could almost feel his friend frowning. "It's hard to believe, but...it's the only thing I can see..."

"I remember hearing about it once..." Damian agreed. "I wouldn't believe it either - I wouldn't even have thought of it unless you had mentioned it...it DOES look like what I heard about though."

The white mist continued to flow in Ash's body, and the young man felt as if a world was opening before him, the knowledge of a thousand year drawn into his mind, the powers that had been homed by over ten century of careful training. More knowledge, more power than he had ever thought could exist outside the knowledge and power of the various legendary pokemon, creatures who had, according to their respective myths, lived since the dawn of time.

And then, the mist was gone, and he fell himself falling to the ground, as if his body had suddenly doubled in weight, even though this was not the case. He let both of his hand rest there, his knees in the dirt, taking deep breaths.

"Ash! Are you alright?" Misty asked him.

He tried to answer, but found that he was simply too breathless to speak. He continued taking deep breaths, while concentrating. If, as Gary had said, this had been a complete transfer of power, then it would only stand to reason that he would be able to use telepathy, just like the great dragon.

"[i]_I'm fine Misty._[/i]" He finally managed to say, and she looked at him in surprise.

"How...how did you do that?" she looked at him wonderingly while he continued breathing heavily.

"Remember what Gary said?" He answered, finally able to talk again. "All the powers of that dragon. Including telepathy." He smiled at her, and she smiled back. 

Chapter 13 : A Matter of Names

Walking back in the pokemon center of Blackthorn, Ash and Misty felt a certain relief. They had gone to see Claire, and she had grudgingly given Ash back his Rising Badge, and they had then left without another word, not really willing to talk any more than was necessary to the young gym leader.

It was only as they entered the center and Damian and Elayne handed them back their own pokeball that Ash and Misty noticed the two pokeball that had mysteriously appeared in their bags. Drawing the one that he had found in his own, Ash stared at it, dumbfounded. Looking at it, it seemed like just any other pokeball, similar in ever aspect to those empty pokeball he carried in his bag, with the sole exception that it was obviously not empty. 

Yet, as surprising as finding a filled pokeball where there had only been empty one before, it was nowhere near as surprising as the shock he felt - the shock they all felt as far as he could tell - when he opened the pokeball, calling out the mysterious occupant. A long sinuous body appeared on the ground, blue as the sky and white as pure snow, crystal jewel adorning its throat and the tip of its tail. A single pure white horn protruded from the tip of its dragonic head, a head that was the home of two shining purple eyes, a head that was flanked by a pair of white wings that seemed like the wings of an angel.

"A dragonair?" Gary exclaimed in a amazement. "You caught a dragonair?" his face was filled with a mix of emotion - surprise.

"Well...actually, I don't even know if I caught it or what..." Ash looked at the dragon, bewildered, wondering how it was that he had obtained such a powerful pokemon without ever noticing it. "I...I really just don't get it..." he mumbled.

"Great, not only do I have to have a trainer but he's a clueless idiot to boot." The dragon muttered, and Ash gaped at him. 

"What did you just say?" He finally asked. It had not been a voice in his mind, unlike what Kadabra, Jormungand and the great dragon they had met earlier that day had done. It had been an actual pokemon voice, speaking in the normal language of pokemon - only this time he understood it. Not just the vague sense of understanding he usually had when pikachu talked to him, from the tone of voice and gesture, but complete understanding.

"What? You understood me?" The dragon stared right back, looking just as dumbfounded as Ash was sure he looked. "How the...wait a minute...I feel like...there's something different with you from yesterday morning..." the dragon continued staring at him, his lips barely moving as he spoke. "Tairan. He gave his soul to you." Understanding dawned in the eyes of the little dragon, and in Ash's mind as well. All the power, and all the knowledge - including, of course, the knowledge of the language pokemon used. He nodded at the dragonair. 

"Ash...what's happening exactly?" Misty asked him, looking at him worriedly?

"Oh, nothing, really. Just a little side effect of the Soul Gift." He turned toward the dragonair. "Dragonair, come back." He ordered, trying to recall the creature. However, the dragon gracefully moved out of the way of the beam. 

"One thing before you recall me. My name's Aysen. Not Dragonair." The creature looked at him sternly. Ash muttered about pokemon having a temper, barely noticing the others watching him, Misty and Elayne in bafflement, Damian with the look of someone who was busy trying to figure out something, and Gary with the look of someone who knew more than the others.

"All right then. Aysen, come back." This time, the little pokemon did not dodge the beam, though he didn't seem really happy about being recalled. As he did so, a problem suddenly struck Ash, as he realized he would have one pokemon too many, and had no idea which one to send to professor Oak. He hesitated, looking at the five pokeballs on the counter and at pikachu, then at the one on his belt. 

"Ash, why did you call it Aysen? Misty asked him. 

"That's what he told me his name was. That's what I meant about soul gift earlier - that big dragon understood pokemon. Since I know everything he knew, I can understand them when they talk just fine now. Simple as that." He explained, smiling at her.

"Makes sense. And it's great." She smiled back. 

"Now, the only thing I don't like is I have to send one of my pokemon to Prof Oak." He muttered darkly about it, calling out all his pokemon.

As soon as they came out, he was struck by the difference, as the usual undecipherable sounds that came out of their mouth as they came out of their pokeball was replaced by words he understood, concept that sounded perfectly clear to him.

"Who need a good butt-kicking?" Charizard said, looking around for a threat.

"Something you need Ash?" Pidgeot asked.

"What do you need, Master?" the voice was easily recognizable as Kadabra's.

"What is it?" His houndoom looked around warily, his eyes glowing.

"Hmmm? Why'd you wake me up?" His eevee stretched, her voice sounding like the voice of someone who had just awakened from sleep.

"Why are you calling me out again?" Aysen looked at him. Pikachu, strangely, stayed silent. 

"I have to leave one of you guys behind, since there's seven of us now...any idea who?" he explained bluntly. "I'll send whichever one of you choose to go to Prof Oak, and I'll try to change who's staying from time to time." He told them, "I'd keep all of you with me, but..."

"I guess me going is out of the question, right?" Pikachu asked him, sounding just a bit worried.

"If you don't want to, you're staying." Ash replied, and Pikachu jumped on his shoulder.

"If you ask me to go Ash, I will. But I'd much rather be here, where I can fight for you." Houndoom told him.

"I will do as you say, Master. If you want me to go, I will, if not, then I will stay." Kadabra added. Ash looked at her, wondering why the psychic pokemon had so little in the way of free will.

"But I want to kick some sorry excuse for pokemon around!" Charizard protested, and Ash had to grind his teeth to avoid a fit of laughter at the way his pokemon seemed to crave fighting.

"I don't want to go away from you all, but if it's for the better..." Pidgeot said calmly, her voice sounding very much like that of a mother offering her children some privacy.

"Sorry boy. I'd like to go away from you, and even be free again, but I'm stuck with you, and you're stuck with me." Aysen told him, his face mischievous. Ash groaned, as he noticed again that the little dragon would definitely be hard to manage. As for the "Stuck with" part, he preferred to not even try to understand it for now.

"Prof Oak's place?" Eevee stretched sleepily, yawning. "Is this a good place to sleep?" she asked him. He smiled at the little creature, obviously still very young. She stretched again, looking at him sleepily.

"Yes, I think it is." He smiled back as he answered her question. 

"Then I don't mind going there." She decided, and smiled at him again. "As long as I can sleep and play..." she shrugged. 

"Alright then Eevee..." he raised his pokeball to recall her, then thought of something. "Do any of you have a name? I mean, now that I can understand you, calling you just by species name doesn't seem right, somehow..."

"I wondered if you'd ever ask." Pikachu smiled. "Mine's Raiken."

"And mine's Celes. Has to do with the sky and all, and it's a nice name." Pidgeot added, staring at him. 

"I'm Deathwing, I guess. At least that's how they call me..." Charizard stated. There seemed to something in his eyes, remembrance of pain, and Ash resolved to talk about it with his pokemon later.

"I was Esper, at least that's the name my mother gave me." Kadabra told him. "Now I guess I'm number 229 - that's what they called me at the Rocket base." She shrugged.

"Esper. I'm definitely going to call you Esper." Ash said, starting to understand the meekness of his pokemon, more than probably the result of harsh training at the rocket base.

"I'm Fenrir. Well, she decided I was Fenrir." Houndoom stated, throwing a glance at Pidgeot.

"Hey, you needed a name, and I thought Fenrir was nice...it's not my fault..." she left it hanging, though Ash could easily guess she had been about to mention the untimely death of the young pokemon's mother at the hand of a group of Totodile.

"And she called me Ashura." Eevee smilled happily, jumping around.

"Ok then." Ash smiled. "Ashura, return!" he recalled the little Eevee, then walked up to one of the videophone of the pokemon center, activating it and dialing professor Oak's number.

____________________________________

They had left Blackthorn the next morning, heading south as fast as they could on the mountainous terrain between the city and New Bark. Fortunately, most of the road was downhill going, which allowed them to make a good time on the road. Still, it took them a good five days to reach Blackthorn, five days out of the two weeks they had to reach Indigo.

The water of the bay of Wakaba shone as the sun rose to the east, the morning after they had reached the city, it's reflection in the water like a shimmering disc of pure gold. However, to the two young men on the beach, the beauty of the scene was nothing. The chill air was nothing. There were only four things that meant something to them just then. Each others, and each other's pokemon. 

"Arcanine! Attack it at your maximum speed!" Gary ordered, his face lost in concentration.

"Aysen, use agility to dodge then thunderwave to paralyze it!" Ash countered, just as focused on the battle as his friend.

The Arcanine stared at the little dragon, before starting to run at a blinding speed, her powerful hind legs propelling her forward like a rocket as she came closer to the little dragon. However, just before it struck, the little dragon simply moved his sinuous body out of the way, letting the great dog run past him. He turned, unleashing a wave of small electric bolts, nothing strong enough to harm, but definitely something that would paralyze the great pokemon with a single hit. Somehow, however, making use of her awesome speed, the great pokemon was able to dodge all the tiny jolts.

"Gary! Ash! There you are guys!" Misty's voice suddenly shouted, coming from the direction of the Elm Lab, where they had been staying for the night. She appeared soon, walking toward the two of them, still wearing her long cloak, her hand on the pokeball that held, more than probably, her own dragonair, Syldra.

"Mist! How are you today?" Ash called back, smiling at her.

"I'm great...oh, Gary, how did you get Ash to wake up that early?" She asked his friend, and Ash winced at the memory of how exactly he had been awakened.

"He didn't. Azure did - with a Thunderbolt." He quickly explained. An innocent smile immediately appeared on the face of his girlfriend.

"I wonder why..." she said.

"Because Syldra told me to do that, that's why." The little dragon was muttering, but it was clear enough for Ash to hear. "I'll let you guess who put Syldra up to it..."

"Oh, Misty...you wouldn't believe that tale my little friend here just mentioned...something about Syldra telling him to do it, and you putting her up to it..." he said sweetly, his eyes looking at hers. A guilty grin appeared on her face.

"What? No,...hehe... Never said a thing about that..." She told him, trying to look as innocent as she could, but failing by far, the guilty smiles still on her lips. Ash walked toward her, and, as he got close, he tackled her to the ground, pinning her down as he tickled her relentlessly. She, of course, fought back as well as she could, and within a few minutes, they were both lying side by side on the ground, grinning, both of them breathing heavily after laughing so hard.

"I never knew you were so ticklish." Misty told him, poking him gently.

"I never knew you were, either." He answered, smiling at her.

"I never knew I was, for that matter." She grinned at him. "I think all of us should get back inside though...we have to eat and leave...Elayne and Damian are getting quite impatient."

Ash sighed, as he would have liked to have more time to train with his friend. He had to admit, however, that Damian and Elayne had a point, and that training wouldn't do him much good if he managed to miss the Indigo competition.

They left soon after, Misty's Lapras carrying them across the great bay in no time at all, and soon they were on the old route twenty-six, the route that ran alongside the cliffs that dominated the sea between Pallet and New Bark, heading east toward route twenty seven. Once they would reach route twenty-seven, they would have to turn north, of course, heading toward Victory tunnel, the great tunnel that ran upward from route 27 to Indigo itself. 

However, as they walked up the road, they soon realized that there was one critical factor they had forgotten when planning their trip : while they had already taken those two roads more than once, all of them, all the time they had been going downhill, south and west, whereas now they were going on the other side, and therefore going up much more than going down. By nightfall they were barely halfway through the distance between the Bay of Bark and the meeting point of the two road.

They were a somber group as they set up camp that night, realizing how costly an oversight they had made. They slept badly, and were quire tired the next morning as they left their camp.

The next day, as if things were not bad enough, a powerful wind swept in, carrying great storm clouds from the sea, and by noon, a showering rain started falling on them.

"Great. Like we needed THAT." Misty muttered darkly under her breath. Ash, who was closest to her, trying to protect her from the wind at least, as there was no way he could protect her from the rain, heard, but he doubted any other had. 

It was Gary who found a cave where, hopefully, they'd be able to wait until the storm would stop. It seemed to be quite deep, running back a distance, but they settled down in the mouth of it, not bothering to explore further. Somewhere quite far off, the sound of a waterfall could be heard. They simply settled in, not really taking out their things, as they didn't expect to stay there long, just until the storm, which seemed like one of those short and savage autumn storm, would abate.

Unfortunately, it soon appeared that someone else had different plans for them, as they soon found themselves 

paralyzed and unable to so much as move a hand. Ash fought against the strange, unseen bond that froze him in place, but could not do anything more than slightly twitch a finger - and he was not even sure he had really suceeded at that, or if it had been his imagination at work.

Two shadows appeared from within the depths of the cave.

Chapter 14 : Nemesis

"So nice of you to come and visit us...we were not planning to deal with you yet, but if you want, we can step ahead of our plan..."A woman's voice slowly said. It was definitely a familiar voice, one Ash had heard before, but he simply could not tell who it belonged to, especially not frozen as he was.

"Be nice...we should introduce ourselves before issuing threats." a man voice chided her. It was definitely a voice Ash had heard before, too, but again, searching the depths of his mind for a memory to match with the voice gave no results.

"Right...anyway, thank to Hypno, they're not going away..." The woman agreed.

"Exactly. So, we should take the time to introduce ourselves." the man confirmed. The two shadows walked closer to the five of them, and into the flickering light of the fire Gary had started. Ash instantly recognized the two of them before they even started doing their motto, though it was changed.

"To plunge the world in devastation." The man smirked at them.

"To annihilate the people of every nation." The woman looked at their group triumphantly.

"To crush the goodness of truth and love." 

"To obliterate all the stars above."

"Butch." He pushed away a strand of hair from his face.

"Cassidy."

"Team Rocket destroying the world at the speed of light."

"No matter what, you won't survive the fight." The two of them stepped closer to the fire, their hypno trailing behind, apparently barely even strained by having to keep them all frozen in place.

Cassidy turned toward Butch, her eyes glinting maliciously, a small knife appearing in her hand, as if by magic, though Ash was pretty sure she had drawn it from her sleeves.

"Who do you think we should kill first?" She asked him, a malevolent grin on her face.

"One of his kids." Butch said, looking at the group of them, but his eyes really locked on Damian and Misty.

"Daughter or Son?" Cassidy asked him, looking at the two of them as well.

"Any of them." Butch shrugged. He obviously did not care much who would die first, as he was quite certain they would all die.

Cassidy walked closer to Misty, and Ash looked at her, fighting desperately against the psychic force that held his whole body. He knew it was useless, and Damian, who was struggling just as much, seemed to think much the same, while Gary and Elayne struggled less, yet carried the same knowledge in their mind. Misty was, apparently, the one who fought the hardest, but to no avail either, and her eyes carried the desperate look of one who knew there was no way to escape death. The hypno would hold them until she was dead, then they would kill Damian, then each of them in turn...it was all over.

Just as he thought that, he noticed a all-too-familiar form slithering in the cave, positioning itself behind the kadabra - and an equally familiar voice echoed from the entrance, repeating words he had heard time and time again - but for the first time, he was glad to hear them.

"Arbok, poison sting." Jessie's voice came from the entrance.

As soon as the volley of little poisonous sting flew out of the snake's mouth to strike the psychic pokemon, the barrier holding them frozen in place vanished.

"You!" Cassidy roared, drawing one of her pokeball with her free hand. However, she had not realized Misty was free, and soon she was clutching the hand that had held her knife - and had been struck with an accurate kick from Misty, sending the knife flying out of the way. 

"Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Umbreon, Gyarados, Arcanine, Girafarig! I choose you all!" Gary ordered, and Ash looked at him, wondering where he had obtained his Girafarig. All of his pokemon came out, soon followed by the other pokemon of the team.

"Raiken! Deathwing! Fenrir! Celes! Aysen! Esper! I'm counting on you all!" he called out his team, listening once more to the chatter of his pokemon as they came out.

"Lapras, Starmie, Seadra, Syldra, I choose you!"

"Vaporeon, Jolteon, Espeon, Umbreon, Flareon, it's up to you guys." Damian said quietly, releasing his team.

"Ivysaur, Weepinbell, Gloom, Tangela...come out now!" Elane called out her own pokemon, all grass types.

Even faced by over twenty pokemon, Butch and Cassidy certainly did not seem to feel threatened, as if they knew they had the ultimate card that would let them win without a contest.

"You just don't stand a chance." Cassidy stated, looking at Butch. "Especially..." she left it hanging, for her partner to continue.

"Hypno. Use your shield to protect yourself and all our other pokemon." Butch ordered calmly.

"Hypno!" The pokemon nodded, and a ball of light appeared around him, causing all of Arbok's remaining poison sting to fall to the ground, halted in their course by a barrier of light.

"Now...time to teach you all a lesson. Raticate, Jolteon, Sneasel , you are going out."Cassidy ordered.

"Yeah. Blastoise, Golduck, Machamp, Magmar, take care of those kids."

Surrounded by glowrinf fields of light, the seven pokemon appeared, ready to strike, glaring at their ennemies, their eyes burning with an unholy fire. With a roar, the pokemon clashed, unleashing their full power.

"Arbok! Lickintung! You go, both of you!" Jessie countered as the seven minions of their nemesis arrived.

"Weezing, Victreebel, you help!" James added, and for the first time that Ash could remember, Victreebel actually attacked the ennemies, instead of trying to eat James.

Damian's eevee evolution were the first to attack, as Espeon, Flareon, Vaporeon and Jolteon concentrated all their attacks on the shield that covered hypno, hoping to get through so that Umbreon could attack. Gary's umbreon moved in to support Damian's, while his Nidoking and Nidoqueen moved on either flank to cover them. Meanwhile, Deatwhing and Celes flew high above, followed by Starmie, hovering at an astounding speed, Aysen and Syldra, floating on their pearl-white wings, followed by the enormous shape of Gary's Gyarados.

Of course, their opponents were not standing doing nothing. A roaring blast of fire from Magmar took Elayne's Ivysaur within the first few seconds of the battle, while Jolteon fired bolts of electricity upward, toward the flying pokemon. With a loud crash, Starmie and Gyarados soon fell back down, while the two dragonair avoided with ease, and Deathwing and Celes somehow managed to block off the attacks. Raticate jumped up, falling back on Damian's Espeon, biting the poor creature, causing it to cry in pain, and fall to the ground wounded.

Meanwhile, a stunning barrage of psychic assault struck Hypno's shield as Esper counterattacked, using her reflect attack to stave off the attacks of their opponents, sending them back to the source, though they were simply absorbed by the shields most of the time, when they simply did not miss utterly, flying off in the emptiness of the cave. Fenrir stood near Ash, fending off any pokemon that came too close. 

"You saved me from those monster a year past, now it is my turn to save you. I will do what I must to do that." The pokemon explained his master and friend, looking at him with shining golden eyes, before jumping off, trying to get attackers to back off when they came too close to Ash. Similarly, Gary's Arcanine stood close to his master, protecting him as best as she could, while Gary held the longer of his two swords drawn, ready to defend himself if he needed to. Girafarig was trying to use his psychic powers to support Esper's attack, but neither of them seemed to have much in the way of success. 

Standing closer to the entrance, Seadra and Lapras were firing their best water attack, sending tsunami-like attacks at the magmar, but to little effect. Elayne's grass pokemon similarly were trying to engage the golduck, blastoise and jolteon, only to see their vines and leaves bouncing off the strange energy shield that protected their ennemies. Team Rocket, of course, was resorting to one of its usual tactic, filling the area behind their ennemies with smog and taking advantage of the poison to try to draw in the opposition, so as to fight on a ground that gave them the advantage.

The ennemy counter attack was furious. Sneasel moved in against Esper and Girafarig, trying to attack them, and suceeding, as their psychic attacks were powerless against him. Magmar attacked Elayne's team, one by one. They would not suceed, not without some strike of good luck, and Ash looked around, trying to find somethign that could bring about that twist of fate.

"Ash!" Misty suddenly spoke from behind him. "Look at their eyes - that golduck and that blastoise. They'Re being controlled by that hypno - like in the orange island!" Misty suddenly told him very excitedly.

"Right! So, take out the hypno, they loose three pokemon and the shield!" Ash nodded.

"[i]_All right everyone, on go give your best shot on the shield of that hypno, I'm sure it's going to fall if we put in all our strenght!_[/i]" He ordered their pokemon, using the telepathic abilities he had obtained from the great dragon and within a moment, they all seemed ready to strike.

"[i]_Now._[/i]" He cooly gave the order, and a roar of flame, ice, water, thuder, psychic energy and nearly all the other types exploded, hitting the Hypno's shiled with fierce fury, causing it to flicker.

"Keep it up!" He ordered, and they threw even more energy in the attack, blasting at it with all the elements they commanded, beams of crystaline ice meeting with roaring waves and devastating blast of fire as they all struck the slowly fading shield.

To Ash, it seemed as if only one attack might make the difference, a single strike being enough to destroy the shield and buy them the victory that otherwise would not be theirs. He smiled, as he realized that there was one last aspect of the soul gift he had not tried to tap in. Searching deep within himself, he found what he sought, the one power that could in fact turn the tide of battle. He joined his hand together, focusing his inner strenght in them, and a flickering ball of light appeared in them. The ball grew, and when it was so bright and large that he could not even see his hands any more, a bright spear of light flew off the ball with a roar, growing with each passing second, enveloping the shield.

As the light faded, replaced by the oppressive darkness of the cave, so did the shield. However, all of their pokemon seemed to be spent, unable to take the final strike, except for those who had been flying above, and thus were not even in range to do a thing about the situation as was. Ash staggered to the ground, exhausted by all the energy he had put in the hyper beam he had just thrown in the ennemy ranks, and stood, gasping for air, as his mind desperately worked to find a solution...

Only to find, as he finally moved his head upward again, that there was no need of one. One of Gary's sword, the shortest, flew past them, moving with deadly grace in a spinning motion, burying itself deep in the chest of the hypno, who staggered to the ground, defeated. 

The moment the hypno was dead, the blastoise and Golduck turned on their comrades, and attacked with fury. Roaring in rage, Blastoise sent roaring waves of water at the room, then the deep chasm below. Golduck struck out with his psychic powers, defeating the massive Machamp with ease. Jolteon moved to attack the two, only to be turned in a cube of ice by a pair of ice beam coming from above, as Syldra and Aysen swept in, flying gracefully. Sneasel tried to strike the two of them, only to be engulfed by a roaring wave of flame coming from Deathwing's mouth. The pokemon tried to evade it, nearly succeding, only to be knocked back in the burning inferno by a mighty gust of wind from Celes. Raticate tried to attack the two of them, only to be knocked out by the same Gust as Celes turned around, sending the rest of it to knock the pokemon away - right in the grip of the waiting Deathwing, who violently threw the creature in the chasm.

All in all, it had barely taken a minute. Butch and Cassidy looked at the slaughter, wide-eyed. Unsurprisingly, Butch drew a gun and aimed it, again falling back to weaponry where both guile and pokemon had failed. Gary moved forward, holding his sword.

"That one needs a serious butt-kicking." Deathwing stated, roaring as he threw himself forward, spitting waves of fire toward the vilains, burning them both. They drew back, blinded by the intense heat, and made the leathal step - they stepped over the edge of the cliff, falling down in the chasm. Ash hears a sound that seemed to come from the wounded hypno, and for a brief moment he could almost believe that he had seen the psychic pokemon's eyes glowing one last time, then his head fell back down, and he died. Ash sighed in relief. 

Suddenly, he felt himself drawn toward the Golduck and Blastoise who stood at the edge of the chasm, as if the creatures were drawing him. He looked at himself, and realized that this was the case, associating the blue glow in the eyes of the golduck with the energy that seemed to be carrying him forward, right in the arms of the Blastoise, who seemed ready to crush him. He noticed Misty was similarly coming closer to the Golduck, being carried by psychic energies.

He closed his eyes as he neared the blastoise, not wanting to see the powerful arms fall down on him. He opened them again as he felt what did not seem at all like an attempt to kill him, or even hurt him, but rather a tight, even slightly painful hug. Ash looked at the creature again, too stunned to even speak, not understanding what was happening.

And then, it struck him. A blastoise and a golduck, controlled by Butch and Cassidy, who had turned on them the second they had been freed of the mind control. A squirtle and a psyduck, stolen by Jessie and James a year before, and sent to the one they thought were the rocket boss, but were in fact Butch and Cassidy.

"Squirtle? Is that really you?" He looked at huge little pokemon in disbelief.

"Yeah, 'course it's me, pal! Who else did you think it'd be?" The pokemon exclaimed, pulling out of his shell black sunglasses, much larger than his old ones, and putting them on.

"I'm so happy to see you again!" Ash grinned, hugging his grown up pokemon as best as he could.

"Hey, good to see you two, y'know! Still got place for me on the team?" he asked, and Ash froze. He had already been forced to send his Eevee back, and he really did not like the idea of having to send yet another of his pokemon back.

"Well..."

"I can take care of him for you for a while Ash...Even with psy...I mean, golduck, I only have five pokemon for now." Misty offered from besides him. He smiled thankfully at her.

"What do you say Blastoise? You'll be with Misty for now, and I'll make sure to swap so that we actually get to spend them together." Ash offered. The great turtle seemed to hesitate, then nodded.

"Why not...but remember to gimme a place to fight sometime!" the great pokemon smiled. "I'm sure the girl and me'll work everything out pal. Oh, remind me...you with her yet?" he asked, and Ash looked at him, grinning.

"Yes, we are together." he answered the question of his pokemon.

"'bout time." The massive creature replied, before literally jumping in the empty pokeball Misty had taken out of her bag.

_____________________________

They gathered their fallen pokemon, and walked outside the cave, to find that the rain had stopped falling for the most part. None of them even noticed the two helicopters with a strange red emblem flying away, too far for them to see, nor did they notice the creature, standing on all four, that watched them from a cliff above, eyes locked on them. Admittedly, the rain had not been as successful as she had planned, throwing them away from one danger in the arms of another, unforeseen one.

Shrugging, the creatures felt one of her teeth coming loose, falling down, looking for all the world like a small sapphire gemstone, at the feet of the red-haired girl below, who bent to pick it up as she noticed it falling. The cloaked man looked up, but was too late to see the creature as she ran away.

Chapter 15 : The Road of Victory

Now that the sky was clear and that the rain had stopped falling, the sun shone and the day was much warmer, tough still cold. To the north the last remnants of a rainbow shone in the sky over the mountains, and all the droplets of water on the ground seemed like a millions small pearls. Ash, of course, kept his eyes on Misty all the time, worried about her, and her safety. She had come close to dying again, and again there had been little for him to do to stop it.

"Thanks for helping us." Damian interrupted his train of thought, talking to Jessie and James.

"You didn't think the boss would leave you two without any protection while these two were out in the wild, did you?" Jessie answered, smiling.

"We've been sneaking behind since you left Blackthorn last week." James confirmed. "Just in case there was something you couldn't handle. Us showing up in time to give you guys a hand was exactly what we had planned." He smiled, looking at them.

"Guys, I think we have a little problem." Gary suddenly said from a bit further off, where he had called off his pokemon and was checking on them, to make sure that none of them were too badly wounded. Apparently, that was something he could not make sure off very effectively, as some of the pokemon he had called out seemed in a very bad shape.

"Gyarados is out and we really need to find a way to help him…I don't know how long he will last."

Ash froze and looked at his friend. The tone of what he had said, and the words, left very little doubt about the seriousness of the situation - it was death he was talking about. 

"Misty?" Ash turned toward the girl he loved.

"I don't know how long Starmie will last either…she got hit really bad by that thunder attack…"

"Same for Espeon…that Raticate got a bad bite…she's bleeding bad…" Damian confirmed, calling out his own pokemon."

"Ivysaur is not too bad, but they're all spent - all of them. We really need to do something about that." Elayne nodded, and Ash acknowledged what she was saying. All of their pokemon had just given their best shot against Butch and Cassidy, and baring Celes, Aysen, Syldra and Deathwing, as well as Golduck and Blastoise, all of their pokemon were spent, and would not be able to do much for a while.

"We'll need to get some help…" Damian said, looking at the badly wounded pokemon.

"And here I was sure everything was fine." Misty smiled at her brother. 

"That was a bit obvious, wasn't it?" Damian smiled sheepishly, looking at his sister.

"A bit." Elayne nodded from behind him. Ash watched with a small smile.

"He did have a point though. Question is, how do we get the help?" Gary pointed out to them, looking at everyone.

Ash looked around at their pokemon, especially at those few who were not spent and seemed ready for more action. He had no idea what Blastoise and Golduck could do, and did not think Aysen and Syldra would be able to help much. He them smiled, as he realized that on the other hand, Deathwing and Celes were definitely up to helping him solve the problem.

"Celes, can you fly me back to New Bark?" He asked her, looking at the majestic bird.

"I don't think so Ash. Normally, I'd be able, but even if I didn't fight as much as the others, I'm still tired…"

"It's all right Celes. Deathwing?"

"Did you need to ask Ash?" The charizard replied, looking at him sternly. "I'm not weak." He stopped for a moment, seemingly thoughtful. "Though I have to admit Celes is far from weak too. She would be a fine Charizard."

"I'll take that as a compliment." There was an amused note in Celes voice as she replied to Deathwing's comment. Deathing looked at her, one of his eyes seemingly opened wider than the other - the equivalent for a Charizard, Ash guessed, of raising an eyebrow for a human.

"If being a Charizard means spending months disobeying your trainer for no reason, then I guess it was an insult." Blastoise commented from the other side, a slight grin on his otherwise hard face.

"Raf, stop it." Celes chided the blastoise.

"Raf?" Ash asked curiously, not understanding the name. Esper brought to mind the term ESP, which was often used in relation with psychics. Celes sounded a bit like celestial, something from the sky. Deathwing was obvious, and Fenrir was a name he had selected himself after hearing it in old legends. Raiken, by the sound, invoked the crack of thunder and the lashing lightning that more often than not accompanied the appearance of Pikachu. But as for Raf, he had no idea what the meaning could be.

"Short for Rafael." Celes offered. "Something about that being the name the rest of the squirtle squad used for him."

"Rafael...you mean, like in the Squirtle Warriors?" Ash asked, his face slowly changing as he tried without much success to hold back a howl of laughter. That show had been very popular among kids when he had been younger, depicting the adventures of a band of over-sized squirtles who acted like real humans and were out to save the world from a strange bunch of vilains.

"You don't have to be insulting about it." The pokemon seemed slightly hurt. 

"Sorry Raf. It's just...weird, kinda. I used to love that show." He smiled, then realized he had gotten completely sidetracked. "Anyway, Deathwing, why don't you take care of things? Celes, Aysen, Rafael, you help Misty and the others take care of the rest of our pokemon.

"Actually, no." Celes countered. "The others can do without me, I'll be going too." She looked at him. "I'm not too weak to fly, far from it. Just too weak to fly with you on my back." She explained, and he nodded. "Just in case you get in trouble." She smiled slightly. "Deathwing wouldn't be able to do much to fight with you on his back, after all."

Ash nodded, admitting she had a point. He climbed on Charizard's back, and the great dragon soon took to the skies, his powerful wings clawing at empty air and somehow managing to lift him above the ground. Once again, Ash grinned as he felt the exhilaration of the air rushing against his skin, watching the ground vanishing far below, tiny figures being all that remained of the companions he knew were there. Deathwing kept climbing, and soon, the sparkling waters of the Bay of Bark were in sight, though they were still at least a few hours away from it. Celes flew effortlessly besides them, her powerful wings held fixed, as she let the wind and the air currents carry her, using her tail feathers when she needed to steer and control her direction.

"You fly well" Celes delivered what seemed to be a compliment, before adding "for a worm." She grinned teasingly at Deathwing as she said so.

"You talk well. For a bird brain, of course." Deathwing shot right back. Tapping in Tairan's mind, Ash could easily understand the words and their meaning, something that had been going on since the dawn of time, a war of pride between dragons, especially flying dragons, and birds. Most birds insisted that the dragons were just flying worms, and were bound to crash regularly, while dragons just shot back that with the size of their brains, birds would probably gain by replacing it with a pebble.

The two of them did not bicker any more during the long flight back to New Bark, and Ash somehow felt as if, unlike what most dragons and birds did, the bickering had not really been meant to harm but rather as a simple way to tease the other and spend the time. His two pokemon definitely were good friends, he could see that, and though they teased each others, they were obviously fond of each other. For a brief moment, an impossible idea flashed through Ash's mind, but he brushed it aside, seriously surprised that such a thought had even crossed his mind.

The sun was already low in the west as they landed in front of the office of prof Elm, and Ash raced in to warn the man of what had happened. Within a few seconds, the professor had called in reinforcements, and an hospital helicopter was under way to carry the wounded pokemon to the pokemon center. Ash, of course, was inside, his pokemon resting in their pokeball. He had considered, before leaving, taking the wounded pokemon with him, but seeing how badly wounded they were, sending them back in their pokeball without some kind of expert to take care of them would have been quite risky.

With the helicopter, they reached their campsite in no time, and soon Ash watched from the ground as the four wounded pokemon were taken away, to go to the pokemon center for treatment. The nurse promised they would be all right by the time they reached Indigo, and that they would be able to recall them, but even yet, Ash knew that many of his companions felt rather unhappy about the whole event.

____________________________

Somehow, they managed to walk much faster on the next day, making it with surprising speed to the crossroad by mid-morning, and, still walking fast, reaching the isolated house of Danea shortly after the sun went down. The light from the window was telltale that someone was in there, and it was no hard choice for Ash go to visit the woman who just happened to be both his aunt and legal guardian.

Danea opened after only one knock on her door, and as she recognized the five of them, her face, which had been slightly somber, seemed to become considerably brighter.

"Ash! I'm glad to see you!" she smiled at the young man. "And the whole group is there. You're heading for Indigo, I suppose?"

"Of course." Ash replied, smiling at his aunt. Despite having known her for barely a year, he was rather fond of her, especially now that he had finally realized why is father had chosen not to reveal himself yet, rather staying apart from Ash and letting Danea care for her - and now that he knew, had heard of the terrible events that had shaken her life some years before.

"Get in, all of you." She smiled at them, and despite what he half expected - for her to be a bit colder toward Misty and Damian - she did no such thing, welcoming them just as much as she Gary, Elayne and Ash himself.

They ate well that night, Danea proving again that she could nearly rival Brock in cooking skill, something that Ash had not really thought possible until he had first eaten her cooking the year before. 

"All of you seems pretty weary, tired." Danea commented at one point. 

"Well...we have been on the roads for a year, except for a short break in Blackthorn - and then, not all of us got the break - so we're quite beaten."

"You could stop here for a few days..." She offered them. "You need the rest, and it's lonely being by myself here, now that your cousin - and you - are both on the roads."

"Yeah, but we need to be in Indigo soon..." Ash explained the problem with her offer. It would be a long trek to Indigo, and they could not afford the risk of staying there for a few days.

"That's no problem, I'm going to Indigo for the competitions anyway, so I'll just take you there. That's what cars are for." She smiled.

"In that case..." Ash grinned and turned toward his friends, who were all nodding. "I think we'll accept."

They spent the next few days resting in the beautiful mountain meadow were Danea lived, taking the time to finally relax after the many events they had run in during their long trek through Johto. Ash, of course, spent most of his time with Misty, mostly sitting in the grass by the small spring, being together with the soothing sound of the nearby waterfall, a small one which had a calming sound instead of the deep roar of the larger waterfalls. The meadow was relatively warm for late autumn, and thus, ice had not yet appeared on it.

________________________

It was sometime past midnight, the sun long vanished beyond the horizon and replaced by the moon, which was in turn coming close to vanishing from their sight beyond the peaks of the silver range. Damian woke up, and, feeling his mouth dry for a reason he couldn't begin to fathom, he made his way toward the kitchen, hoping to get a glass of cold water. As he passed by the living room, he surprisingly heard voices inside, voices he knew. One was Daena's, the other was a voice that had spoken in his mind a thousand time and more in the last few years.

"You have done well. Without your assistance, they would never have reached Indigo in time, and they must." The voice spoke, to Danea as far as Damian could guess.

"Thank you, lady." The young woman answered, and as he peeked inside the room, Damian saw her, her head bowed, and another woman, whom he had heard much about, and heard much from, but had never seen in person.

Her hair was like the sky at twilight, a mix of gold, red and purple, somehow very harmonious despite the differences. Her face seemed perfect in every way, and her eyes shone, one with the fierce, glorious golden light of the sun, the other with the soft, whispering silver light of the moon. She wore a long gray dress that seemed to shine and sparkle, and a cloak of the same color hung over her shoulders. Her delicate hands rested on the table as she sat on a chair by it, with Danea in front of her. As he saw her, Damian instinctively bowed his head, knowing he was in the presence of one of the greatest being he would ever met. The woman, he knew, was Enaira, and though the many religions of the world barely knew of her, or if they knew of her, pretended her to be a lie, she was a Godess, in power and wisdom, one of the four children of the Grey one, who had made the universe and the world out of the primal forces of Nether, Void and Spirit. 

"My lady." He whispered softly, entering the room.

"Damian." The woman - if such a being could be called by such a simple name - acknowledged the new arrival. As she looked at him, Damian felt himself filled with awe such as he had never felt, as the gaze of a being who had seen the birth of the world, and in all probability would also see the end of it rested on him.

"How many of them have you found Damian?" she told him, looking at him, her eyes seeming to bore into his soul.

"Two, my lady. I have found the Child of the Dragon and the Lady of Mists."

"Good. If you want my advice, seek the help of the Oracle of Change. You will not be able to use his wisdom for a long time, but for that time, you should seek his help, for he can feel his brothers and sisters, the other oracles, and unlike them, he is human." She looked at him.

"And where am I supposed to find the Oracle of Change?" Damian asked, not really expecting an answer.

"He is nearer than you think. Seek the one who is young yet old, and you will find the oracle." Her answer was cryptic, but Damian had an inkling of an idea of what it might mean.

"Thank you my lady." He kept his head lowered, and despite not seeing her, knew that Danea was doing the same.

Soon, the sense of her presence was gone, and as he let himself straighten, he turned to face Danea. 

"I never knew you served Her." He smiled.

"I never knew you did, though I should have suspected, after last year...You were just a little bit too lucky during that raid, like someone was twisting things in your favor. I would never have guessed you were the Seeker, though." She admitted. Damian said nothing in reply, not really wanting to talk about what being the Seeker implied.

"You should get some sleep anyway." She told him. "We're leaving tomorrow, so..." she smiled, and Damian nodded. 

"Goodnight Damian." She added.

As she had announced, they left the next day, and reached Indigo Plateau by the end of the day, just in time to register for the competition, and to hear that after much deliberation and many complaints, the gym leader and trainers would compete in different tournaments, not the same one. 


	4. Part 4 : For a dream

Part 4 : Fighting for a Dream

Chapter 16 : The First Day

Two days later, the sun rose, shining fiercely over the main stadium of the Indigo Plateau, a stadium dominated by the high tower of the Kanto government right beside it. One of the gate of the stadium stood wide open, ready to welcome the many trainers who would, in the next few days, compete for the ultimate prizes – the title of pokemon master, and recognition as the greatest pokemon trainer of both Johto and Kanto. First to enter were the gym leaders, split in four group, representing the various divisions that would take part in the contest. The Eastern Kanto division came first, under the applause of the crowd and with the comment of the announcer accompanying each arrival.

"For the Fuchsia gym, the gym leader Koga Kisaragi and his sister Aiya!" the voice rang through the stadium as the two Ninja stepped in, in their usual ninja outfits.

"For the Saffron gym, the gym leader Sabrina Psyke!" The man announced next. There was a certain silence as the two psychics stepped in the arena, both of them seeming not to care to what was going on around them.

"For the Vermilion gym, the gym leader, Lieutenant Jonathan Surge!" the announcement rang as two men with yellow, spiky hair entered the arena, both of them walking in an obviously military way, one of them much younger than the other.

"For the Celadon gym, the gym leader Erika Springfield!" the man announced, and another roar of applause came from the crowd as the famous – and beautiful – gym leader entered.

Ash smiled, not really caring as the rest of the gym leaders took their place, only watching when the announcer called out " Misty Waterflower", of course watching his girlfriend making her entrance in the stadium. Surprisingly, her sisters had elected not to register, standing out of the contest, and letting their youngest sister fight, arguing that with her Lapras, Starmie, Seadra, Golduck and Dragonair - as well as Ash's Blastoise - she definitely had the most powerful team of them all. He also watched, somewhat surprised, when the gym leader of Pewter was announced, as he certainly had not expected Brock to have gone back to his old job, yet he was the one who stepped in the arena. For a brief moment, Ash wondered if that meant Suzie would take part in the main tournament, but really did not bother to find out about it. If she did, she would definitely make for an interesting opponent, being one of the few, lucky beings who had been granted the title of pokemon master.

Soon, it was the turn of the trainers to enter the stadium, first the enormous mass of trainers that had managed to obtain all eight badges of one of the league or the other, then the much smaller group of the trainers who had obtained all sixteen badges - only nine of them, many of which Ash knew personally, including Richie and Gary.

Once all the trainers were gathered in orderly rows on the main field of the stadium, a man and a woman appeared, holding the flame of Moltres together. The man, Ash definitely knew, as he was his father, Lance. His long dark cloak flew in the wind, and his spiky dark hair gave him a slightly roguish appearance. The woman beside him had pale blonde hair, almost white, and was clothed in dark black, tight clothes. 

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Please welcome the League Champions and Chiefs of State of Johto and Kanto - Karen Strife and Lance Blackthorn!" the announcer yelled, as a deafening roar of applause rang through the stadium.

The two chief of states, followed by a pair of bodyguards behind, made their way up the main spire of the stadium, lighting the great flame that would remain for the entire pokemon games as a symbol of the courage of the trainers who would fight there.

They then turned toward the now silent assembly of trainers, and spoke.

"Ladies and Gentleman, thank you for coming." Karen said first, her cold eyes surveying the stadium.

"As most of you realize, this is quite an historical event." Lance added. "For the first time, the two leagues of Johto and Kanto have set aside their old rivalry to work together." He added.

"Without further talk, I declare the first inter-league games open!" Karen added, taking some scissors form her pocket and cutting the ribbons that had been wrapped in a symbolic way at the feet of the stairs after they had climbed them.

The cheering echoed for a long while throughout the stadium as the two of them waited patiently for the sound to die down. Once it did, Lance spoke again.

"Now, I am going to talk to all the trainers here to fight for the title of pokemon master, or of the best gym leader there is." He said. "I just want to remind you that being the best gym leader is nothing. You already have all proven that you are astoundingly skilled trainers, otherwise you would not have been chosen for the jobs you occupies now." The assembled gym leaders all nodded. "During your career, you all have learned that skill is far more important than brute strenght, and you all have learned that cheating would never make you better. I ask you all to remember that for this tournament. Play by the rules, as I know you do when you fight in your gyms." Lance looked at them.

"And for the trainers, remember, being a pokemon master in title means nothing either. The true pokemon master might be a master in soul, but never get the name. He's the one who's bond with his pokemon is so strong that they would never hesitate to give his life for him, the one whose pokemon would do anything for him, He is also the one who would do anything for pokemon, even give his own life. If there's someone among you like that, even if he looses, he will be more of a pokemon master than anyone else here, including me. He's also the one who choose his pokemon because of his bond with them, not because of strange concepts of strenght and weakness. Strong pokemon, weak pokemon, that is only the selfish perception of people. Truly skilled trainers should try to win with their favorites. Those who do that are closer to being pokemon master than those who win by simply selecting their pokemon based on strength alone, or worse, cheat to win." She ended her speech, looking at them all. "Remember that when you fight." She added, and without another word, the two of them stepped off. Ash barely even watched, eager to fight his first battle in the competition.

____________________________

Unfortunately for him, the qualifiers to determine who would be the lucky seven trainers who would make it to the finales among those who had not collected all sixteen badges had to happen first. Hence, his first two weeks in Indigo were spent mostly taking time with Misty, who was free as well, since the competitions of the gym leader tournament would start at the same time as the first round of the main tournament. Elayne was the only one of them who fought during that time, easily making her way to the new tournament. Ash often went to watch the battles, especially when a particularly promising trainers was on the field. Strangely enough, many trainers used teams built around a single type of pokemon. Elayne was one of those trainers, using a team built around grass pokemon, and a number of other promising trainers did the same. 

Still, he spent most of his time with Misty, watching as the late autumn over Indigo slowly turned in early winter, as the first snowflakes fell, draping the world in a pristine white cloak. Their own cloaks came in handy as the weather changed, allowing them to ignore the falling snow, as they seemed to be made of a material that shrugged off cold and snow, not even becoming wet in the process.

Two weeks after the opening ceremony, the qualifiers of the main tournament finally concluded, and it was time for the real contest to begin. Ash and his friends waited eagerly in the main stadium as the elite four readied the tables that would announce the match-ups for the upcoming contests.

"The first rounds match up in the Gym Leader tournament!" Lance announced, and the loud crowd suddenly was silent, as the information begin to appear on the screen. "For the Kanto league, Brock Slate against Misty Waterflower, Giovanni Scarpa against Blaine Higgins, Jonathan Surge against Sabrina Psyke, and Erica Springfield against Koga Kisaragi!" Lance added, listing the match-ups that were listed 

"And for the Johto league, Falkner Eisenstein against Jasmine Smith, Whitney Crescent against Morty Chandler, Claire Leonhart against Chuck Tyson and Pryce Amundsen against Bugsy Heifer" She finished the announcement.

A tall, muscular man, then rose, carrying the display with the match-ups for the first round of the real tournament, the pokemon master tournament. Ash knew him, and had met him once - he was Bruno, the fighting - and rock - master of the Elite Four.

"And now, for the trainer tournament..." Lance announced. "Elayne Loreana against Kamon Yetsukai, AJ Phillips against Ash Ketchum, Will Arkonen against Janine Kisaragi, Gary Oak against Richie Cotter, Suzie Williams against Hiro Tadeshi, Kyle Stery against Ashton Maxwell, Shingo Musashi against Martin Cole, and Otoshi Kinomoto against Tanya Ketchum!" He stopped, his announcement over. Ash smiled, as it was finally time for him and AJ to have a rematch, after a long time waiting.

Ash's first round would not take place until the next day, while Misty, Elayne and Gary would all fight in the afternoon. As much as he wanted to see Gary's battle, Ash really simply could not miss Misty's match, especially seeing as her opponent would be Brock. Soon, he was sitting in the lower seats of the stadium were the two would face each other.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to this first match of the Inter-League gym challenge, between Brock Slate of Pewter and Misty Waterflower of Cerulean!" the announcer yelled. The light all around the indoor stadium suddenly were lit, revealing the field, and the two raised stand, decorated one with a boulder badge and the other with a cascade badge, were the trainers would stand during their fight. Misty was already atop one, and Brock at the top of the other.

_____________________________

Misty felt a few drops of sweat rolling down from her forehead as she concentrated, ready for the two on two match she was about to fight. Reaching for her bag, she withdrew a pokeball to start the fight.

"The two trainers will both send out their selected pokemon at once!" The announcer yelled, and for an irrational moment, Misty wished he would just shut up and let them fight. With a swift motion, she threw the pokeball.

"Misty call Syldra!" she announced, as her dragonair materialized on the battlefield.

"Steelix! I choose you!" Brock answered, calling out his great steel serpent.

The two long pokemon faced each other, purple eyes glaring in stony ones, steely and azure bodies facing each other as the two pokemon seemed to be judging the strength of their opponents.

"Steelix! Iron tail!" Brock yelled, watching his pokemon getting ready to strike.

"Syldra! Counter it with agility!" Misty retaliated. 

The great steel pokemon swung his tail toward dragonair, but the speed the creature gained, and her superior agility allowed her to escape the attempted attacks with ease, never even letting the tail come close to hitting her. Brock watched the attacking pokemon, helpless to offer anything that would let his pokemon win, while Misty watched with a grin, certain that she had victory well within her grasp.

"Syldra! Fire Blast!" She suddenly yelled out the order, her eyes locked on the battlefield.

"Steelix! Dig to get yourself safe underground!" Brock countered, and, before the roaring wave managed to strike the great worm, he was down underground, safe from attacks, and ready to attack from behind.

"Syldra, use your surf to fill that hole" Misty suddenly ordered, and waves of water fell in the hole, filling it to the brim with pure water. There was a roar of panic from underground, and Steelix burst out at an astounding speed, completely missing any attempt at attacking Syldra in the process. The little dragon, however, did not miss, and took advantage of the occasion - a worm looking the other way, still panicked from the water it had just narrowly escaped was just too easy of a target. This time, the flames engulfed the pokemon, who fell to the ground, badly wounded. Before Steelix could recover, a second roaring wave of flame struck out, and the pokemon eyes closed, as a red beam enveloped him, returning him to his pokeball.

"Excellent move from Waterflower! She used her attack to prevent the opponent tactic from suceeding, giving herself an easy target for victory!" The announcer continued to yell, though Misty was doing her best not to hear what he was saying. She kept her eyes locked on Brock as he selected another pokeball to throw out on the battlefield. 

"All right then. CROBAT! I choose you!" He yelled, as the strange bat pokemon appeared, and Misty stared at it for a moment, wondering what kind of pokemon it was exactly, realizing soon that it was probably an evolution of Zubat, and thus poison and flying for types.

"In that case, Syldra, returns. Starmie! I choose you!" she ordered, and her star-shaped pokemon appearedon the battlefield, her jewel glittering in the sun. 

"Oh, that's what you want to do." Brock said. "Crobat! Toxic!" He ordered, and his pokemon readied for the strike.

"Starmie! Attack with a thunderbolt!" Misty countered, and the pokemon acknowledged the order by wiggling one of her arms.

Crobat glared at Starmie, and spat out a cloud of poisonous gas toward the star-shaped pokemon. However, Starmie's core started glowing, and soon a fierce bolt of thunder fell from above, striking directly the crobat. Starmie tried desperately to avoid the toxic cloud, but simply did not have the time to do so, falling to the ground in no time at all, the poison slowly sapping her strength. On the other hand, the lightning bolt immediately struck the Crobat, who fell to the ground, defeated.

"Crobat can't fight!" The announcer yelled. "Victory goes to Gym Leader Misty Waterflower of Cerulean!" 

The entire crowd applauded, and Misty soon fell arms locking around her shoulders from behind, and turned to see Ash smiling at her.

"Great job there Misty. You're great." He smiled, and held her tighter. She turned and wrapped her own arms just as tightly around him.

"Thanks my love." She replied, smiling as the crowd continued to applaud.

Chapter 17 : Father and Daughter

"It's down to the last pokemon for both Gary Oak and Richie Cotter. Cotter will surely use his prized Pikachu, as always, but what will Oak use?" the voice of the announcer droned on, but Gary ignored it, concentrating on selecting his next pokemon. Arcanine and Nidoqueen had already both given a good fight, and he had to select which of his pokemon would move in next.

"Alright. Nidoking! I choose you!" He suddenly ordered, calling out his great dinosaur-like beast, the creature appearing on the battlefield, standing ready to fight.

Without any need for order, Nidoking stomped on the ground. Caught aback by the sudden attack, the Pikachu fell to the ground, falling in the many small crevices that were opened by the earthquake. It managed to climb back up, but a second shock wave ran through the earth, sending the electric pokemon to the ground. The creature climbed back up again, but the Nidoking relentlessly stomped on the ground, and more shock waves struck out, sending the pokemon back down every time it rose.

"Sparky! Surf attack!" Richie desperately ordered. He had fought well, Gary had to give him that, but in a match between equals, the fact that he had had to send out his pokemon first had been the deciding factor, allowing Gary to take the advantage early on. And his last choice of pokemon had been easy to predict, allowing Gary to counter it easily. As the pokemon launched a roaring wave of water toward his Nidoking, a last shock wave caused the ground to ripple, and the battle was over as Pikachu fell down.

"Trainer green, Gary Oak of Pallet town, is victorious!" The announcer yelled, But for once Gary felt no joy in victory, as there was no pride to take in a defeat that had been - he knew it - a pure question of luck. He smiled sadly at Richie, who had lowered his head, apparently not taking too well being defeated.

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A few hours after his victory, Ash was with his friend, celebrating, though there was a certain dark side to the events, and something that Ash felt somehow guilty about celebrating - Gary's victory. Of course Gary was his friend, but so was Richie, and celebrating Gary's victory over Richie seemed like the kind of things he shouldn't be doing, but he just couldn't help it, he felt happy for his best friend. 

Elayne had also won her early battles, defeating Kamon with ease, her Ivysaur claiming victory against both his Quagsire and Ampharos, and Damian's Umbreon, which she had borrowed, sealing the battle by defeating Xatu, while Ash himself had won with surprising ease, Charizard claiming all three of AJ's pokemon before they had the time to do any real damage. 

More surprising were the other results of the first round, Janine Kisaragi overcoming an astounding type weakness to win with her poison-centered team against Will Arkonen's psychic team, though admittedly, her only non-poison pokemon, a Scizor, had played a large part in that victory. Even more surprising was the fact that Suzie had lost her first round match, defeated by a young new trainer from New Bark, Hiro Tadeshi. Her Dragonair had lost to a Feraligatr using repeated ice punch, her Bellossom in turn taken out by the flamethrower of a Typhlosion, and her Vaporeon loosing to the draining attacks of a Meganium.. 

Tanya had won her first match, defeating Otoshi Kinomoto, whom Ash remembered having met during his travels through the Indigo League years before, as a young man who had had his badges stolen by Team Rocket. Shingo Musashi, who was reputed as a great master of pokemon techniques, had defeated Martin Cole, a young man who was famous for having already defeated some league, the Elemental League, as far as Ash could remember the name. However, what everyone agreed was the most surprising victory of the round was Ashton Maxwell's defeat, despite his strong, powerful pokemon at the hands of the mysterious Kyle Stery. No one knew much about him, except that he used pokemon no one had expected to see, and managed to do major damage with them, despite what everyone thought possible.

"Hey, the next round matches are up!" Damian suddenly said, from the computer at which he had been spending his time most of the evening despite the partying the others were doing.

"Oh? What are they?" Misty and Ash both replied at once, followed shortly after by Elayne and Gary.

"Gym leader tournament..." Damian slowly said. "Claire against Bugsy, Falkner against Morty, Lieutenant Surge against Erika and Misty against...oh Gawd, that's not going to be easy - you're going up against daddy, Mist." Damian smiled at his sister, as she cringed. Ash put a comforting hand over her shoulders. 

"Don't worry Misty. I'm sure you'll do fine." He told her, and she nodded, even though they both knew Giovanni would be far from an easy battle for Misty, being, as he was, acknowledged as the best gym leader of Kanto.

"Yeah, you'll sure show him just as you showed Brock. You do have the type advantage, after all." Gary nodded, and Misty gave him a smile, while she moved closer to Ash, who in turn wrapped his arms tighter around her.

"And the main tournament?" Gary asked Damian.

"You're up against Janine, Koga's daughter. Ash and Elayne are going to be up against each others next round." Damian informed them "And sorry Misty but I think for once we won't be cheering for the same side." He grinned at the young woman, who grinned back, while still holding Ash tightly. Ash, of course, had absolutely nothing against the idea of letting her do so, and in fact brought her even closer, holding her as tightly as he could without hurting her.

They continued having fun all together for a while, then went to their beds to get some rest, as they all knew tomorrow would be a major day for them all, as they would all fight hard fights.

_______________________

Early the next morning, Misty entered the stadium for her second round battle, feeling very nervous, as her father was a very skilled gym leader. She would not have an easy fight, that was something she knew, even with the type advantage she had. On the other side of the stadium, standing on the raised column that was adorned with a representation of the Earth Badge, her father was waiting. She climbed up the column that was adorned with a huge representation of her own cascade badge. The stadium was already filled to the brim with supporters of either side, and she could easily see Ash, Damian, Elayne, Suzie and Brock sitting in the front row, all cheering her.

The announcer spoke, though being focused as she was on the battle, Misty did not really notice, talking one of her pokeball and getting ready to throw it. Well, getting one of the pokeball she carried would have been more appropriate as the pokeball she held in her hand was none other than Ash's Blastoise's - Rafael, according to Ash, a name which had made Misty smile.

"Nidoking...I choose you." he said as a huge purple beast appeared.

"I choose Rafael!" she answered, calling out the enormous turtle, who looked at her and gave her a grin. Misty grinned back, watching as the pokemon stared at each other. Nidoking was a strong pokemon, but then, so was Blastoise. That would be a very interesting match.

"Nidoking...try poison sting attack." Giovanni said, his voice controlled, showing no traces of stress or excitement.

"Blastoise, counter it with Withdraw, then try your hydro pump attack!" Misty ordered back.

Nidoking spat out a swarm of little poisonous stings that flew at extreme speed toward Rafael, only to rebound harmlessly off his shell as he hide inside it, protecting himself from harm. The two enormous cannon appeared out of their appropriate holes in the shell, and two roaring blasts of water headed toward the nidoking, who dodged one and got struck by the other. The beast reared, but stood firm, apparently not that affected by the water.

"Nidoking! Try for a fissure!" Giovanni ordered, and Misty tried not to panic, knowing that if the attack connected, Blastoise would be out of the fight.

"Rafael! Try to get him with Blizzard first!" Misty yelled, hoping that the Nidoking would be frozen, or something similar, saving her from having to loose the pokemon.

The hurled crystals of ice struck around the nidoking, who narrowly avoided being frozen as he struck the ground repeatedly. Suddenly, a vast crack opened in the ground, striking forward like a darting spear toward Blastoise. Without any orders from Misty, the great pokemon reacted, stopping his use of blizzard against the nidoking, instead directing it in filling the area under him with ice. As Misty wondered what he was up to, Rafael continued to extend the strange structure of ice to either side of his. As the fissure reached him, Misty understood. The crack stood wide open, but with a great ice bridge arching over it, Rafael standing on top of it. Sliding, he made his way to the safe side, having countered the deadly ground attack.

Soon, before the crack could close as they usually did, he was filling it to the brim with water through a powerful rain dance attack, giving himself a safe haven were he would be utterly immune to attack such as Earthquake and Fissue. In fact, it was a place that would possibly turn these attacks against the Nidoking, if he tried to use them, as they were likely to create huge tidal waves that would not bother Blastoise but would bother the Nidoking very much. Soon, the pokemon was in the water. Once he was there, it was only a matter before he could launch a powerful wave that submerged the ground pokemon, and soon he was coming out of his pool again, having achieved victory by turning the tactics of his opponent back at him.

"All right then." Giovanni seemed to shrug off the loss, though the apparition of the pool put him at a serious disadvantage. "Persian! I choose you!" He ordered, calling out the pokemon that he had obviously been training over the last year to replace his old persian, killed when Butch and Cassidy had taken over Team Rocket.

"What do you want, boss?" The pokemon replied in a very human language. Though the old accent of Meowth wasn't there anymore, there was no doubt in Misty's mind that this was none other than the Meowth she has met so many time.

"I need someone who isn't a ground type to deal with her pokemon." Giovanni answered, and Meowth - Persian, that is - turned toward her, his eyes instanly filling with shock as he winced. 

"Not one of the twerps boss...please, ANYTHING but that..." he protested.

"No will do. Why don't you show her some of the new tricks I've taught you?" Giovanni asked calmly. "Thunderbolt."

"Yes boss! I've been wanting to do that for a loooooooong time." He grinned, a slightly vicious grin, as his fur crackled with electricity.

"Blastoise! Withdraw in your shell!" Misty countered, hoping that the pokemon would be able to survive the attack so, but it was too late. Tired by the unending fighting of the battle against the Nidoking, Blastoise went down quickly.

Against a pokemon that knew thunderbolt, Misty could only see one possible choice for her next pokemon - a dragon, as they were resistant to electric attack, not to mention that Syldra would still be able to make an effective use of the water that had resulted from Rafael's brilliant tactic.

"Misty calls Syldra!" She said, and the long dragon appeared, floating above the water, her long angelic white wings shining.

The two pokemon stared at each other for a while, waiting to make the first move, both of them ready to strike but apparently unwilling to do so. Syldra's horn glittered like a thousand pearls, and Persian's eyes shone with the will to fight and win.

"Persian! Fury Swipes!" Persian ordered himself, like he had done more than once back when he had been a Meowth.

"No." Giovanni replied before the cat pokemon could use the attack. 

"But boss..." The pokemon started to protest.

"I said no. Use your bubblebeam attack instead."

"Syldra, Fire blast attack." Misty answered, knowing that there was a chance the two attack would cancel each other, the fire heating the water to the point where it would turn to steam, and thus preventing it from reaching Syldra. She knew, from her experience with water pokemon, that bubble attacks were extremely effective at knocking back a pokemon and slowing it down.

The two attack met, roaring wave of flame and stream of bubble, and as Misty had planned, they canceled each other easily. As the flames died, the stream of bubble had vanished.

"All right then. Try your thunderbolt anyway, even though it's not going to do that much." Giovanni ordered, apparently disgusted by the turn of events. Yet, as the thunderbolt struck, Syldra writhed in pain, surrounded by crackling energy, as if the attack was doing much more damage that one would have expected.

"Again!" Giovanni ordered, seeing that his strategy was working.

"Syldra! Escape it with your agility!" Misty ordered suddenly. The pokemon threw himself in a corkscrew maneuver, narrowly dodging the next blast that would probably have taken her out.

"All right. Now move to the other side of persian!" She ordered, hoping that her father would not guess at her plan. 

"Persian, keep at it with your thunderbolts!" Giovanni countered. His face was now covered in sweat, as he was drawn in the intensity of the battle.

Misty watched, waiting for the exact moment to strike, the one moment at which the pokemon would be positioned just right. And then it came.

"Syldra! Full strength body slam! Now!" She yelled, and the dragon pokemon threw herself in an extremely rapid attack, throwing the surprised opponent back, far away from where he had been - and right in the lake that had resulted from the fissure and rain dance from earlier.

"Persian! Stop your thuderbolt!" Giovanni yelled, realizing the peril he had been put it. Unfortunately, the order came too late, and the next bolt of thunder was lost in the water, and sent back in the body of the cat pokemon, who barely had time to utter a single "Oh damn, not THAT again..." before the energy struck him, causing him to screech in pain as power ran through his body. Yet, even the damage from the thunderbolt seemed to be not enough, as the pokemon crawled out of the lake, wounded but still willing to fight.

"Syldra, finish him. Fire blast, now." She ordered. Before the pokemon could move, a roaring wave of flame surrounded him, and he screeched again in pain, finally falling to the ground, defeated, his eyes closed, uttering a final comment, barely audible but that sounded suspiciously like "Looks like I'm blasting off. Again." A few second alter, Syldra, weakened by the thunderbolt that had struck her and by the power she had just spent in her attacks, followed him, but Persian had been first to faint, and Misty felt exhilaration running through her entire body as she realized that against all hope, she had defeated her father.

"That was AWESOME!" Ash yelled as he ran toward her, catching her in a tight hug, which she answered easily. "You were just wonderful there!"

"Thanks Ash - but Rafael did most of it. You sure you don't want him back?" She grinned impishly.

"Great job Misty. You really fought hard to get that one, and you deserved it." Damian congratulated her, soon followed by a grinning Elayne. Even though they had been in Team Rocket for a long time, the two of them

"She was like a bit lucky, but she, like, fought very well, I'll give her that. You, like, were sensational, sister. I'm like proud of you - we like all are." Misty grinned as she recognized the voice of one of her sister, and turned to face her.

"Thanks Lily. Does that mean I'm a sensational sister and not the family runt now?" she grinned again.

"Well...your, like, our sister and your, like, sensational. So that makes you, like, a sensational sister, I guess." Her sister grinned

"I'm proud of you too...You really surprised me." She immediately recognized the man's voice, and turned to face the dark-haired man who had spoken. He wore a red suit, as he usually did, with a yellow turtleneck under it.

"Thank you dad." She said, feeling something shift deep within her as she said so. For long, she had avoided calling him like that, refusing to admit that he, Giovanni, who had until recently been the leader of Team Rocket, was also her father. But now, it was breached, as those three simple words had been her own admittance that she was his daughter, that there was no denying it.

_______________________________

A few hours later, she was in the stadium again, this time cheering for Ash as he faced Elayne in battle. So far, the match had not gone well for the young woman. She had expected him to start off with either Fenrir or Deathwing, and had sent out Vaporeon, which she had borrowed from Damian, only to be caught off guard by the powerful attacks of Raiken, who had used his mastery of electrical energy to easily win the battle. 

Her next attempt had been somewhat luckier, her Tangela managing to do some major damage, knocking off the electric mouse, though Raiken's thunderbolt had not been useless, damaging the Tangela, softening her for whichever pokemon Ash sent out next. That one had been Celes, who had used her wing attacks to defeat the grass pokemon without taking much damage, and now Elayne was out of pokemon that would really help her win.

"Exeggutor! I choose you!" she said, calling out the pokemon, whom she had swapped for her weepinbell just before the tournament, and Misty had to admit it was about the only choice she had. The psychic side of Exeggutor might just turn out to be enough for her to defeat the flying pokemon.

"Exeggutor! Sleep powder, then psychic!" She ordered, but as the pokemon readied himself for attack, Ash's Pidgeot swept down from above, both of her wings striking the tree-shaped pokemon. Although the attack obviously wounded its target, it was not enough, and the creature stood still, letting loose a stream of powder in the air that caused the flying pokemon to fall to the ground, an easy prey for the waves of psychic energy that the tree-like creature emitted. Soon, Celes was defeated, even though Misty knew very well that Elayne had already lost. From the look in her eyes, Elayne knew that, too, as she knew that Ash had the perfect counter for Exeggutor.

"Fenrir, I choose you." He ordered, calling out his dark wolf. There was no need for order, as the waves of psychic energy from Exeggutor bounced off harmlessly, never even coming close to harming the dark pokemon. The grass attack did no better, as they were all beaten up by the dark flames that the creature summoned to defend himself. Fenrir advanced slowly toward the Exeggutor, and, just as he seemed about to launch a wave of fire at the creature, a red beam enveloped the sentient palm tree, as it was recalled in a pokeball.

"I concede." Elayne whispered, and it was obvious for anyone looking at her, or hearing her that she was trying very hard to choke back tears. Within a second, Damain was there, his arms tightly wrapped around her, and Misty watched her sadly, noticing that Ash was doing the same.

"You aren't happy about winning?" She asked him.

"Why would I be...that must be the cheapest victory I ever won. She got the worst possible match-up to start with, and from there, it just went downward...that was not a real battle, nothing hard or anything like that. Not to mention that she's a friend, and lost to a tiny, very tiny oversight of her. I was not even using Raiken because I thought she'd use Vaporeon, just because I almost always start with him." He sighed again. "I know what you mean. I felt a bit the same way after I beat Brock...it was too easy, because of a bad match up."

Chapter 18 : In an Heartbeat

Yet another day had dawned over Indigo Plateau, and yet another battle was being fought in one of the stadiums of the city. Misty glared at the woman she was facing, knowing she would have a definite advantage for this battle.

"Syldra! Twister!" She ordererd, her dragonair circling her opponent, waiting for the best opportunity to strike.

"Dragonair! Counter it with a Twister of your own!" Claire's voice countered, and Misty watched eagerly, wanting very much to defeat her opponent in this one battle, after what she had done to them back in Blackthorn.

The two forceful whirlwind-like attacks, called upon by the two pokemon that could command weather, met in the middle of the stadium, crashing in each other. The whole stadium trembled as the two attack met and an explosion struck the battlefield. An enormous twister appeared, as if the two previous ones had combined to create a new one.

Both dragon pokemon stopped fighting, concentrating on the monster that had appeared, their eyes glowing as they sought to control it. The twister stood still, though it sometime would go slightly one way, soon after to make its way toward the other pokemon

Suddenly, the twister died, and the two pokemon who had been vying to control it fell to the ground, their energy drained by the test of will they had just gone through. With a sigh, Misty recalled Syldra, as Claire recalled her first dragonair.

"Dragonair! Go!" She yelled, sending out another one.

"Lapras! I choose you! Use your Ice Beam quick!" She ordered, looking at the pokemon.

Lapras came out of the pokeball half a second before Dragonair. The second the dragon was out, he was encased in a block of ice, without his trainer even having time to give an order. Taken aback by the turn of events, Claire recalled her pokemon, giving Misty another victory, an easy one.

______________________________

The days had passed quickly, and while Misty had made it to the final, Ash, by his sad victory over Elayne, and Gary, by defeating the Hiro person and his team of Meganium, Feraligatr and Typhlosion with Arcanine, Girafarig and Gyarados. The third round matches were up, and while Gary would go up against they mysterious trainer Kyle Stery, who had once again won through his surprising tactics - according to what they heard, anyway - Ash would be coming up in a battle against none other than his cousin, Tanya. Misty, as for herself, would be coming up in her first really bad match of the tournament - against Erica, and her grass pokemon.

To make things worst, Syldra, whom she had been planning to use in that fight, refused flat out to do so, claiming that due to some higher power she was unable to do so, not allowed. Misty tried to convince her, of course, but her answer was simple : 

"_It is not my destiny. If I take part in that battle, things will be set wrong, and it will take a long time to put an end to the problems such a mistake would cause_" she said simply, speaking directly in Misty's mind, shaking her head.

"Well, Aysen will fight for Ash won't he?" she tried to counter.

"_His destiny and mine are different._" The pokemon shrugged, before telling her again that she would not fight in the battle.

She let the subject drop, not really wanting to make things worse between her pokemon and herself. Syldra would have been a good bet - she wasn't a water type, and therefore was not weak to grass attacks, and she knew fire blast. She finally settled on the team she would use the evening before the battle, selecting Lapras, because of his Ice half, seeking to take advantage of the weakness of grass pokemon to ice attacks, and Starmie, trying to use the pokemon's psychic side against the fact that most grass pokemon were also partially poison types.

____________________________

She rose early the next morning, and was in the stadium half an hour before the time of her battle which was to be the first of the day. Thus, the stadium was empty, and she could wait, thinking about her strategy further. Sitting down near the platform that would soon hold her, she waited for the tournament to begin, praying that the weather would favor her, or that something else would, turning the tides in her favor. Ash soon joined her, as his semi-final fight would only take place the next day, unlike Gary's, which would take place that very day.

"I'm sure you'll do fine Misty." He told her softly "Erica's not that good." He added, while Misty smiled weakly. "Hey, you beat Giovanni. Why wouldn't you beat Erica?" He asked her. She tried to cheer up, to convince herself he was telling the truth, but simply could not. 

All too soon, the spectators entered the stadium and she took her place on the raised platform, to wait for Erica, who quickly appeared, climbing on the opposite platforms. The stadium was filled win an enormous crowd, and fell stress creeping through her bones once again as she steeled herself for the battle. She drew out Lapras' pokeball, ready to fight, as Erica drew out one of her own pokeball, just as ready to fight. As the referee lowered his flags, the two pokeballs were thrown with force in the middle of the field, revealing the sea monster and his opponent, a small ball of vines.

"Tangela! I choose you!" Erika said.

"Misty calls Lapras!" Misty answered, realizing now how lucky a choice she had made, as Tangela was one of those few grass types that were not poison as well, thus making them resistant to the strategy she would have employed with Starmie.

"Lapras, use Ice Beam!" she ordered, hoping that she would manage to strike first as she had against Claire. If she could remove Tangela without damage to Lapras, she would have gained an advantage that might just be enough to buy her the victory she was after.

"Tangela! Solar Beam!" Erika ordered at the same time, and Misty felt her hear beating faster, as she waited, knowing that now, all it took was for Lapras to aim well, and she would have victory within her grasp..

The sun was shining, but not brightly enough. Tangela gathered the sunlight, but before she could turn it in a bright spear of light aimed at Lapras, a beam of ice struck her, encasing her in solid crystal, with a single shining point of light in the middle, like a magic stone of legend, burning with an inner fire.

"In that case, Gloom, go." Erica said, calmly. Misty had expected that, of course, as she remembered from their previous visit to Erica's gym that Gloom was her favorite pokemon.

"Lapras, ice beam again." She ordered. Victory, despite everything, was within her grasp, she could feel it, she knew she could reach it.

"Gloom, use your petal dance to avoid that attack." Erica countered. The plant pokemon started dancing around, and as much as Lapras tried, he could not aim his shot with enough accuracy to hit the pokemon. Misty swore.

"Gloom, poison powder." The next order came quickly from Erica, and Gloom let loose a wave of poisonous spores toward Lapras. The ice pokemon was too slow to dodge, and within moments was coughing as the poison slowly sapped his strength.

"Lapras, try to use your ice beam again!" Misty ordered, knowing that it was really the only attack Lapras had that could potentially win her the game.

"Gloom, continue avoiding it with your petal dance." Erica's counter was still the same, and as the two pokemon fought, still as effective. At one point, Lapras did manage to hit the Gloom, wounding it, but it appeared to be far from enough, as Gloom stood still, ready to continue fighting.

All too soon, the poison proved to be too much for Lapras, who fell to the ground, finally defeated. Misty recalled her great pokemon, glaring at Erika, knowing she would have to fight well to win the next battle.

"Starmie! I choose you!" She yelled, calling out her star-shaped psychic pokemon.

"Gloom, use your stun spore." Erica ordered, still calm.

"Starmie, thunder wave!" Misty retaliated, trying to paralyze the opposition just as the opposition tried to paralyze her pokemon.

The two attacks were equally effective, Gloom and Starmie falling to the ground, barely able to move, twitching as they fought to rise and attack to win. Misty watched, her hands gripping the railing of the raised platform as she kept her eyes locked on the two pokemon. Starmie had to rise first, she had to, else they had lost, and Gloom would win with ease. Finally, her pokemon seemed to gather enough willpower, and to shake off the paralysis long enough for a psychic blast to appear, aimed at Gloom.

The grass pokemon tried to dodge, but in its paralyzed state, could not. However, it did manage to first a powerful drain attack, and, as the two attack struck, both pokemon fell to the ground - at once. The action happened so fast, there was no way for Misty to tell which pokemon had fallen first - as far as she could see, they had both fallen at once.

There was an hushed silence in the crowd, and she could feel the disbelief of the many onlookers. After all the fierce battling in the tournament, the final looked like it would end with a draw, as if there was no way to determine which of the two trainer was the best. They had both lost one of their pokemon before that, hence there was no way to help there either, and since they had only been allowed to take two pokemon with them on the platform, they could not fight a second battle to determine the winner.

"Well, looks like the referee have decided to talk about the situation and try to decide who won or if it really was a draw..." The announcer's voice said, filled with the same disbelief that everyone felt all around the stadium.

As soon as the platform was lowered, she walked off, eager to take a walk away from the stadium, to think about something other than the battle that had just ended. Ash accompanied her, despite the fact that Gary's match was about to begin, knowing they would soon be back and that he would at least see the end of it.

____________________________

Gary stepped on the terrain, feeling ready for mostly anything. Even though the opposing trainer had made his name known by using strange tactics during the rest of the competition, he was sure he could take him on, and win easily. The pokeball that hung from his belt were all ready to be thrown, all six of them, even though he would only get to use three during the battle.

Umbreon would be first to go, that he had already decided. After that, of course, it would depend on what the opponent sent out. After all, there was no point in trying to plan everything ahead if he had no idea of the strategy of his opponent. 

"Umbreon, I choose you!" He yelled as soon as the referee signaled for them to send out their starting pokemon.

"Growlithe, you go!" The man, wearing cloak and hood, threw a pokeball of his own, revealing a cute growlithe puppy that was inside. "Show that pokemon how much of a sweetheart you can be." The man ordered, and the Growlithe raced toward umbreon, cutely licking her on the face, looking at her with big, sad eyes. 

Umbreon looked at the pokemon, completely confused by the strange behavior, and Gary looked around, bewildered by the attack, and trying to get an idea what was happening. Suddenly, he realized that this was what everyone had meant, or at least part of it, when talking about unusual tactic.

"All right. Umbreon...bite him!" He ordered, forcing himself to do so despite the way the creature looked, so weak and helpless. He knew it was only a strategy, of course, but even knowing that did not make ordering Growlithe to actually attack any easier. If the creature managed to keep Umbreon locked in thinking he didn't deserve attack, Gary's pokemon would certainly fall to the mental beating she was taking, fighting herself.

Umbreon seemed to struggle as she tried to bite the opponent, her teeth glistening in the light of the great panels hanging from the roof of the stadium. There seemed to be a force within her resisting the will to attack, yet she fought on, determined to break through that force and actually win.

"Growlithe, keep at it. You're weakening her." The mysterious trainer ordered.

"Umbreon, keep at it. One strike will be enough!" Gary yelled, knowing he could not afford to let tactics like that defeat him.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Umbreon leaped, closing her jaws over the neck of the Growlithe, and Gary breathed a sigh of relief as the pokemon fell to the ground. Despite the unusual tactics of his opponent, he had managed to win, and now it was time to face the next pokemon.

"Blissey! I choose you!" The man yelled, calling out his next pokemon. The strange pokemon, obviously an evolution of Chansey, appeared.

"Blissey, try to use Mimize, then use softboiled to recover from any damage that umbreon gets in." The man ordered, using a much more standard tactic than his previous one.

"Umbreon, confuse ray, then toxic." Gary countered. Hopefully, the opponent would be too confused to use any of the attack she had been ordered to perform, and the toxic attack would get in and sap her strength before she could make it through.

A blinding flash of light surrounded Umbreon, soon turning in a beam that enveloped both her and her opponent, and the Blissey looked around, as though she had no idea where she was, who she was, or what she was doing. Trying to remember, she tripped, falling on the ground, as a cloud of toxic dust appeared in the air, created by Umbreon, and slowly floated toward the defenseless pokemon, hitting her. 

"All right umbreon. Keep up the pressure with more Confuse Ray." Gary ordered, as the little pokemon continued striking out with blinding rays of light that were meant to devastate all memories the opponent had of what she was meant to do, who she was meant to fight. The pokemon continued to stumble around helplessly as her powers were nullified by her inability to remember how to use them, and as the poison slowly sapped her strength. Soon, she fell to the ground, defeated by the gas that ran through her blood, and Gary breathed another sigh of relief. Two down, one to go.

"Very well. Blissey, come back." The trainer ordered, calling back one pokemon and sending out a third. A huge shape, somehow familiar in forms though not in size, materialized in the middle of the battlefield, nearly high enough to reach the top of the platform, long enough to cover nearly half the fighting ground, half again as large. But even despite its size, the pokemon was still as useless as any other of the specie - as any other Magikarp.

"You expect to win with THAT?" Gary asked in stunned amazement.

"Yes." The man replied, and for a fleeting moment Gary wondered if he was perhaps facing a madman. "Magikarp, use your splash attack. Forward." The man ordered, and Gary watched amused as the pokemon made his way slowly forward, jumping stupidly on the ground, sending small shock waves through the earth with each jump.

The Magikarp continued coming forward, as Umbreon watched, the massive shadow of the pokemon coming closer. It was only then that Gary realized the peril he was in. Of course, most Magikarp were able to do nothing with their splash attack, but if that one succeeded in using splash to catch up to Umbreon and fall on top of her, it would do some massive damage due to weight alone. The shadow of the fish pokemon completely kept the sun away from Umbreon, as the creature was about to fall on top of him.

"Umbreon! Move out!" He yelled suddenly, watching as his dark pokemon tried to run away, only to be caught under a fin as the fish fell again on the ground. Stuck there, the dark pokemon tried desperately to get out, but was trapped as the Magikarp refused to move.

"Umbreon, return." Gary ordered, taking his pokeball and throwing it to the ground, wondering what pokemon to send out next. He finally decided on Girafarig, coming up with a plan that he hoped would be enough to overcome the heavy problem he was faced with.

"Girafarig! I choose you!" He ordered, calling out the psychic pokemon.

"Magikarp, trample it." The opposing trainer ordered, the order that Gary had expected, of course.

"Girafarig, use your psychic powers to keep that Magikarp from crashing on you!" he countered.

The wave of psychic powers enfolded the Magikarp, keeping it floating above the Girafarig, who stood his ground valiently. To Gary, it was obvious that the psychic pokemon would not be able to keep at it that long, but since he wasn't planning for any such thing to happen.

"Try to push that pokemon higher if you can!" He ordered, and Girafarig nodded, pushing upward with his psychic powers, exhausting himself in the process. Gary watched his pokemon carefully, waiting for the exact moment were the Girafarig would be unable to fight. As soon as he saw that his pokemon was too weak to keep the enemy floating high above, he picked up the pokeball, and aimed the red beam.

"Girafarig, release and return!" He ordered, recalling his pokemon as soon as he released the field of energy holding the enormous magikarp flying. The great pokemon crashed as Gary called out his last pokemon.

"GYARADOS! I choose you!" He yelled, calling out the enormous sea dragon, Magikarp's evolved form. "Use your hyper beam while it's down!" The great beast nodded once after hearing the order, and a stunning beam of pure light struck out, hitting the Magikarp, causing a single plaintive "karp" to come out of its mouth of the great fish. As the stunning light, like a new sun, faded away, they could all see that the Magikarp was on the ground unmoving.

There was a moment of silence in the whole stadium, as everyone waited for the announcement of Gary's victory, as everyone waited to see if the fish would stay down. After that moment lasted for a while, the voice of the announcer rang.

"Trainer red, Gary Oak of Pallet, is victorious!" the man yelled, and Gary sighed in relief again. "And, regarding today's previous match, the referees have come to a decision. Trainer Green, Erika Springfield, was victorious. It was demonstrated that her pokemon fainted slightly after that of Misty Waterflower."

Gary turned to watch Misty, who had returned to take a seat in the stadium. She was definitely depressed, from the way her head was lowered, and Ash had her arms around her comfortingly. Gary smiled sadly. Personally, he had no doubts the final would end the same way for him, finishing second to Ash after a fierce duel. But at least, he was sure that there would be no false hope, as Misty has been brought to face by the fact that the two pokemon had fainted within an heartbeat of each other. He looked at them once again before leaving the stadium, trying to ready himself as much as he could to his upcoming defeat.

Chapter 19 : A Final Duel

"There are two pokemon down on each side, and the two cousin still faces each other, ready to call out their final pokemon." The announcer yelled, even though Ash was trying to ignore the sounds around him, to focus on the match. Tanya was no easy opponent, she had proven it already, and now they were both down to their last pokemon. For a brief moment, he wondered how it was that the announcer had gotten a hold of the fact that they were cousin, then pushed the thought aside, focusing on choosing the next pokemon.

"Fenrir! I choose you!" He yelled, calling out the dark pokemon again.

"San! I choose you!" His cousin replied, her own houndoom appearing in the middle of the field.

The two great wolves stared at each other, their fangs and horns glistening in the light. Tanya's was a little shorter, and had slightly less curved horn, but otherwise there were no major differences. They stood, ready to strike, golden eyes staring in golden eyes.

"San, use your crunch attack." Tanya ordered, trying to keep her voice cool. Her silver hair were falling loosely on her shoulders, and she wore her tight black shirt and pants, and her long black coat, with her spiked collar still in place. Her eyes were as ice whenever she looked at Ash, who tried to shrug off her deadly look.

"Counterattack with your flamethrower Fenrir. Create a ring of fire around you." Ash gave his own order, watching his pokemon executing the maneuver perfectly, creating a whirlwind of flame around himself that forced the attacking houndoom to back down, even though as a fire type she would be able to take the heat, at least for a time. Even with protection, there was no use taking needless damage when you were down to your last pokemon.

"All right Ash. You want to play this way, we'll play this way." Tanya growled. "San, use your mud slap attack to extinguish the fire." She ordered. Her pokemon started digging in the soil of the arena, covering the wall of flame around Fenrir in dirt.

"Fenrir, use Sunny Day to make yourself stronger!" He ordered. Fenrir howled, and the sun blaze pierced through the windows of the arena, a powerful glare that banished all shadow, and strengthened the fire burning as a result of Fenrir's earlier maneuver. Tanya swore.

"Flamethrower!" They both yelled at once, and the two great spears of fire flew toward each pokemon. 

"Dodge it!" The shout came from both trainers at once, again, and the two pokemon tried the same move, both of them failing as the well aimed spears of burning energy struck true. Even though they were resistant, the attack, empowered by the fiery sun that shone through the window, seemed to do masses of damage, and Ash watched the two pokemon warily for a sign of fainting from either one.

Within an heartbeat of each others, the two pokemon fell to the ground, their energies drained by the battle. However, unlike what had happened in Misty's battle, Ash - and everyone - had clearly seen Fenrir hanging on a little longer, for perhaps that heartbeat that had defeated Misty.

Ash breated a sigh of relief, knowing that there was only one battle left ahead. And then, he remembered who the battle would be against, and sighed again, but this time an unhappy sigh. He would not enjoy having to face and defeat his friend, a battle that might ruin their friendship and renew their rivalry, though he did not think it would.

______________________

"The _Succubus_ report that task force 5 is fully deployed, and ready to strike." Eric Nelson's voice was the only think May Oak could hear as he reported on the current situation. "We are almost done loading the troops and supplies aboard the transports of task force 6." He continued reporting, giving her detailed information about the status of each warship.

"When will our warships be ready to sail?" She asked, her eyes intent on the tactical map that depicted the whole of Kanto and was on the table of her main command room in the Aircraft Carrier _Bloodsword_.

"_Bloodsword_ and _Dominator_ are ready to sail, general." He reported. "_Obliterator_ and _Annihilator_ will be ready within a few hours. _Executor_ is lagging a bit behind." The report came, as May rose to look through the window of the command room.

"What of the destroyers?" She asked, her voice stern, surveying the fleet assembled in the underground base of the Crimson Lotus.

"All destroyers, frigates and submarines are ready to sail as you see fit, general." The man who was her second in command - and much more besides - reported. "The transports will be ready within the hours, as well. The loading is nearly finished." He continued, and May nodded, not even having to doubt the words as those of an eager underling. She knew he was telling the truth, she could feel the truth of his words through her mind. Just as she could feel the eagerness to fight of most of the warriors and sailors of the Lotus army and navy. Her mind flew literally all around the underground base, finding source of discontent, and having them dealt with in the best way she could devise.

"Are the troops fully ready?" She asked, even though she already knew the answer. She did not like letting the full extent of the powers she had gained known, not yet to any extent. She preferred to rely on an efficient command staff, so that if her power were unusable for a reason or another, she could always rely on the staff - and if the staff went down, she had her powers ready to take care of things.

"They are." Eric acknowledged.

"Very well. What is your opinion of the campaign plan?" She then asked him, waiting to see his reaction.

"You're asking an underling his opinion on your plan?" There was the faintest hint of amusement in his eyes as he replied.

"We're...friends, too." She replied. "I'm asking you as that." She told him.

"Friends?" There was, again, this faint touch of amusement in his eyes. She blushed, her cheeks taking a slightly pink tone.

"Well, ok. We're more than that." She admitted, as he moved closer to her. They both knew no one could look through the window, and that the door was locked. As his hands rested on her shoulders, May felt a great part of the stress that came from leading thousands of men in war leaving her.

_______________________________

The stadium where the final of the league competition was to be fought had its roof still open, for a reason or another. The weather outside was sunny, the sky cloudless all the way to the horizon for thousands of kilometers, and was rather warmth, at least for December. The two platforms stood at opposite end of the field, and the spectators had already filled the seats all throughout the stadium.

Nearly the whole population of Pallet town was there, of course, seeing as Ash and Gary both had grown up there, and would now be facing each other in the finals. As he walked toward his platform, Ash looked at the pokeball he had just obtained, removing Celes from his team to get it. Celes had been a valuable complement to his line-up, but he simply needed to round up his type a little bit more, to handle fire and ground type. Hence, he had asked Misty to take care of Celes, and had taken Rafael for the six on six battle.

The referee came to the middle of the field, a green and red coin in hand, ready to toss it. Ash, being the green trainer for the match, would be the one to go first if the coin fell on the green side, while Gary, who had just arrived, would go first should it fall on the red side. A simple toss, and the coin flew in the air, whirling so fast it was impossible to see which color was on top and which was on bottom. Landing on the ground, the coin fell on its edge, condemning them to send their two pokemon at once.

"Alright. Umbreon! I choose you!" Gary yelled, calling out his pokemon, as Ash made his own choice, letting Pikachu step in the arena.

"Raiken, you go!" He ordered.

The electric mouse and the dark cat stared at each other, their eyes, blood-red and jet-black meeting, as electricity crackled on Pikachu's cheeks, and the shadows around Umbreon seemed to be darker than the darkest midnight.

"Faint attack!" Gary ordered, his eyes locked on the two pokemon.

"Counter it with thunder wave to paralyze her!" Ash's order came half a second later, as he watched the two pokemon fighting, the shadow swirling around Umbreon to hide her, and the crackling energy gathering around Pikachu for the strike.

A fierce wave of small electric bolt struck out of Pikachu's tail, aimed at the Umbreon, but as it struck, it found only shadow, while the Umbreon was nowhere to be seen. Watching around, Ash didn't notice anything that could even remotely be seen as a clue to the presence of the dark pokemon.

"Continue with thunder wave! Try to cover the whole field with it!" He ordered, watching pikachu, whirling around, continuing to send small bolts of electricity everywhere. As the bolts flew everywhere on the battlefield, Ash stopped a small, slightly darker area in the stadium, that was about the size of an umbreon.

"Pikachu! There, about fifteen feet to your right! Thunderbolt that!" He yelled, and Pikachu whirled, unleashing a fierce bolt of energy that struck the patch of shadow. As the shadow dissolved, it revealed a wounded umbreon standing, still ready to fight.

"Thunderbolt again!" Ash added.

"Umbreon, agility to dodge, then toxic and confuse ray, in order." The counter came, Gary hoping to be able to rely on the same strategy that he had already against the Blissey the day before.

A fierce bolt of thunder struck from above, aimed at the Umbreon, who barely managed to dodge in time, jumping to the left. Three more bolts came down, well aimed, in rapid succession, barely leaving the dark pokemon with the time to dodge. Yet, she managed to do so, avoiding the attacks one after the other, as she seemed to ready herself for the toxic attack.

"Raiken, that's not working!" Ash yelled, as he desperately tried to come up with a tactic.

"I know what I'm doing. Just let me take care of it, ok?" Raiken replied, his voice calling on the trust his friend had so often put in him.

"All right. Do what you think is best." Ash nodded, watching the fight with his eyes locked on Raiken, as the electric pokemon called down another bolt of thunder, one that Ash felt was slightly off the target. And then he understood, as he watched the umbreon moving to the left, as usual, to dodge it, in the usual evasion pattern - only to move right in the path of the incoming bolt, screaming as it struck him. Yet, the bolt wasn't enough just yet, as the creature managed to walk out of it, and finally fire its toxic attack. Pikachu screamed as the poison entered his body, delivering a final strike to the Umbreon before Ash ordered him to come back, just as his opponent was recalled. Ash tried to find a way to get Raiken healed quickly, but could find none, other than recalling the pokemon. He looked at the weary, weak pokemon who finally nodded, knowing that otherwise would be either extremely dangerous for his life, or else the end of Ash's dream.

"Nidoking! I choose you!" Gary yelled, calling out his pokemon, just as Ash called Pikachu back in a pokeball for the first time in a long, long while.

"Rafael, you go!" Ash grinned at Gary who seemed to swear as the Blastoise arrived on the field. He had not warned his friend about the pokemon swapping he had done for this battle, and now he definitely knew he had done well to keep that a secret.

Ash stared at his friend, who apparently was trying to come up with a victorious strategy, knowing what had happened to Giovanni's Nidoking against Rafael.

"All right. Rafael, use blizzard to trap that Nidoking." Ash first ordered, as Gary still tried to come up with a counter - and suddenly seemed to remember something, grinning. Ash shuddered, knowing that whatever it was, Gary had probably just created a plan that would be a pain to go around.

"Nidoking, just be careful not to be hit by too many ice shards." He ordered calmly.

"I'm gonna kick you hard." The Nidoking threatened Rafael.

Rafael, of course, had a few ideas of his own, and instead of starting out with a blizzard directly around the Nidoking, instead seemed to call it more sparsely but over a greater area, covering soon the whole field in ice, except for a short idea around him. Ash watched, bewildered, wondering what his pokemon was up to.

"Just you watch Ash, just you watch." The pokemon explained as Ash looked at him questioningly. "Rain dance 'd be a real bad idea, I'm sure that Nidoking 'now thunder or something. So I'll do something else."

Gary looked suspiciously at what was happening, and Ash could see his friend worrying, wondering that Ash's pokemon was up to. 

"Nidoking, thunder, now!" Gary finally apparently could not take waiting anymore, and ordered his pokemon to attack. Apparently, the trainer had realized that he was not going to have much success with his tactic of waiting for the rain dance to strike with a thunder.

The Nidoking reared, as if it was readying himself for a charge, crackling energy dancing around his horn as he called the wrath of the sky. Rafael, however, had other ideas, as he seemed to ready to withdraw within his shell. First, however, he took a few step on the only patch of non-iced land there was, around him, reaching the edge after a few step, throwing himself to the ground and withdrawing in his shell just as the thunder struck the area where he had been a moment earlier. 

The shell, of course, slide with ease over the icy surface, heading at an astounding speed toward the Nidoking, and as Rafael did so, Ash seemed to hear a shout from the depths of his shell.

"BOWLING TIME!"

"What?" The Nidoking seemed to say.

The Nidoking was completely unprepared for the less than regular tactics of the Blastoise, as the creature charged on the ice, sliding at an awesome speed toward the Nidoking, obviously intending to take the pokemon as a pin while he acted as a bowling ball.

The tactic was utterly successful, and soon Blastoise was coming out of his shell, watching the Nidoking sprawled on the back as he unleashed his Blizzard attack on the defenseless target, trapping him in a thick coating of ice.

"Nidoking is unable to fight! This round goes to Blastoise!" the referee yelled, as Gary recalled his pokemon.

"All right then Ash. I'll fight water with water. Gyarados! I choose you!" He yelled, calling out his great pseudo-dragon pokemon. The wyrm appeared over the battlefield, ready to fight.

"Gyarados, hyper beam, now!" Gary yelled.

"Yes boss." The gyarados answered obediently.

"Right, right. I'll deal with it." Rafael said, obviously not caring much about the situation, redirecting his blizzard, this them toward himself as he withdrew in his shell.

By the time the spear of light lanced forth from Gyarados's mouth, Blastoise had managed to cover himself in a thick layer of Ice, while Ash watched, puzzled, what he was up to. The beam struck the ice, slowly grinding it away, but then Ash watched in surprise as the sparkling ice reflected part of the beam as if it was a mirror, causing it to strike back toward Gyarados.

Soon, however, the ice coat was broken, and as Ash waited, hoping that Rafael would manage to get up and fight again, he knew deep inside that the pokmeon had expended his strenght to damage the second opponent - and had done so very well. Gyarados was left wincing in pain as he struggled to keep moving high enough to avoid crashing.

"Rafael, come back. Deathwing! I choose you!" He yelled, calling out the great dragon.

The dragon apperared, challenging the other dragon, gauging him, ready to strike.

"That one needs his butt kicked, doesn't he?" He said in his usual tone, and Ash nodded, watching his pokemon's eyes opening in glee. Deathwing simply charged, narrowly avoiding the surf attack that Gyarados tried to use on order from Gary, and simply hit the other dragon on the head, repeatedly, with his fist. The tactic, while primal, seemed to be rather effective as the Gyarados was soon on the ground, defeated. Of course, Rafael had done most of the damage, but Deathwing had still done a good job ending the fight.

"Alright. That one went fast, but let's see about this one." Gary said, throwing yet another pokeball, calling out his Girafarig. The strange two-headed pokemon appeared on the battlefield, ready to strike. The charizard glared at the new opponent, his eyes locked on him.

"You." He said. "Need a serious kicking where it hurts." 

"Yeah, like you could do that, punk." The Girafarig replied, as psychic energy flowed out of him, toward Deathwing. Somehow, however, the charizard managed to shake off the attack, letting the attempt at twisting his mind flow away without any effect, then sending waves of flame toward the opponent, who could not react in time. Badly burned by the attack, the Girafarig finally managed to step out of the glowing orb of flame that had surrounded him, only to be seized by Deathwing's two powerful arms, and brought high in the sky, then thrown back to the ground violently, causing the floor of the stadium to shake, though only a little. The pokemon did not rise again after the attack, and was soon recalled. Gary was down to two pokemon, while Ash had three left who had not even been out yet, and Deathwing still ready to fight.

"Nidoqueen! Go! Hit him with thunderbolt until he's out!" Gary yelled, calling out his pokemon. The Nidoqueen seemed to glow, as she called forth the lances of energy that struck out of the sky, hitting the Charizard repeatedly, wounding him badly while he was unable to strike back. It all happened so fast, Ash had no time to give an order, and soon had no choices but to recall the pokemon. 

"All right. Aysen, you go!" He ordered, calling out his pokemon, hoping that he would be able to do some damage with him.

"Yes, master." The pokemon answered, somewhat bitterly.

"Nidoqueen, hit him with your ice beam! Don't give him a chance to attack!" Gary ordered. Things had definitely gotten more vicious, and now Gary was definitely not going to give him a single chance if he could avoid it.

It happened again. As soon as his pokemon was out, the Nidoqueen formed a glowing orb of ice in hand, sending forth a crystal beam that struck the Dragonair, badly wounding him. Before Ash even had the chance to order a second attack, another beam struck out, this time not only wounding the pokemon, but in fact freezing him in place. With a weary sigh, he recalled the pokemon.

"All right. Esper, you go." He ordered, calling out his Kadabra. "Psychic the second you're there."

"Try to use ice beam nidoqueen!" Gary countered, obviously hoping to freeze the psychic pokemon in place before his own pokemon could be defeated. 

It was, however, too late. The second she hit the field, Esper released a psychic blast, knocking Nidoqueen back and badly wounding her. 

"All right. Then, use Fissure!" Gary ordered, watching as his pokemon repeatedly stamped the ground with a foot, causing suddenly a deep crack to appear, heading straight for the kadabra, catching her as she unleashed a second blast of psychic energy. Ash recalled his pokemon, as Gary recalled his Nidoqueen, finally taken down by the psychic powers of Kadabra. They were both down to their last pokemon.

Chapter 20 : Test of Friendship

"Arcanine! Go! Kick his houndoom out of it!" Gary called out his pokemon, watching the great fierce beast appearing.

"Fenrir! Go! Attack with whatever you got!" Ash yelled at the same time, causing the dark hound to appear, his sleek shape ready to strike. Ready to strike, that is, until he saw who he would be up against.

There was a strange moment of the two pokemon staring at each other, and Ash wondered what was happening, staring at the two pokemon. Neither of them were fighting, despite having receinved their orders - basically, carte blanche to strike as they saw fit. Fenrir turned his head slightly, as if fighting with himself, unable to attack the pokmeon.

"Please Ash, do not force me to do this." Fenrir told him. 

"Why?" Ash asked, surprised by the reluctance of his pokemon to fight.

"I...I do not know." The pokemon seemed to be fighting with himself still.

"Fenrir, what's wrong?" Ash asked, feeling as if the world was crumbling under his feet.

"If you order me to strike at her, I will...but while I will still remain your pokemon, and loyal to you...I am afraid if you did such a thing, our friendship would be at an end." The worlds were calm, as the pokemon stared at Ash, who stared back, barely noticing from the corner of his eyes that Arcanine looked at her trainer the same way.

__

On the one hand, I'll fulfill my dream. On the other, I'll loose the trust and the friendship of one of my pokemon. I don't know which is really worth it. The thought raced through Ash's brain, as he desperately sought a way around the problem, around the fact that there would be an heavy price to pay, no matter the choice.

The pokeball weighed heavily in his hand, as he knew that within his palm, he held the power to end his dream, and save a friendship that meant a lot to him.

He looked at Gary, who seemed to be trying to understand why his Arcanine refused to fight, and realized that if he ordered Houndoom to fight, and won, he would kill a friendship that meant a lot to him, badly damage a second such, but would fulfill his dream. On the other, he could save both friendships, with a single move, a single, easy thing. But by doing so, he would also end his dream, an hard step to take. He looked at Fenrir, at the Arcanine, at Gary. The Arcanine seemed to be trying to tell Gary something, but for some reason, Ash could not make out what it was.

Looking one last time at his friend, he found that the young man had his eyes locked on Ash now, no longer on either of the pokemon, as if he was wondering what Ash was about to do. Slowly, reluctantly, fighting with himself at every step, he raised his right hand, the one that held the pokeball. A lone tear ran down his cheek, knowing that once again, he would have lost because one of his pokemon simply...had not wanted to fight, even though this time at least, it had been his choice to loose. As he took one last look at Gary's face, at the shock there as he realized what Ash was doing. He then lowered his head, unable to watch around him any longer.

"Fenrir, return." Ash ordered, recalling the great dark hound, a bright beam of red light struck out, to envelop the Houndoom.

"Arcanine, return!" Gary's voice echoed from the other side, at the exact same time and Ash's could hardly believe what he was hearing.

The referee came, and called them both to the middle of the field, as Ash walked slowly there. As they arrived there, they were joined by two more persons, two whom Ash certainly had not expected to see meddling here, Karen Strife and his own father, Lance.

"Why have you recalled your pokemon?" the referee asked, his face stern.

"If I may, let me explain." Karen said suddenly, and the referee looked at her.

"Of course miss Strife." He answered shortly.

"From what I understood, both of their pokemon were telling them that they would attack if ordered, but did not want to do so, and that doing so would damage the friendship they have for their trainers." She explained. "I guess the two trainers decided to recall their pokemon because they valued that friendship more than winning here." She continued.

"That does not change a thing to the fact that we can hardly decide on a winner." The referee objected.

"Let Ash win. He was the first to have the courage to make that choice. I didn't elect to recall Arcanine until I saw he was going to recall Fenrir." Gary answered.

"No. I recalled my pokemon first. The win's yours Gary." Ash replied, though the words were hard to come by.

"Stop fighting." Karen told them, suddenly. "Neither of you can be the winner, that wouldn't be fair to the other. So, you're going to be the co-champions. Simple as that." She decided, and Lance nodded.

"And both pokemon masters?" The referee seemed to object.

"That goes without saying." Karen replied seriously. "My speech at the beginning of the competition wasn't just a thing to say. They've shown by recalling their pokemon that they value the feelings of their pokemon more than winning, that makes them much closer to the idea of pokemon master than a victory."

"But..." The referee started to object.

"She's right." Lance spoke. "They both deserve it, and they'll both get it."

The referee glared at the two of them, obviously unhappy about the decision, but then nodded, as Ash felt lost completely, not understanding what was happening all of a sudden. How did Karen know what had happened? And why would they be rewarded for not winning?

_________________________________

Not even an hour had gone by, and already the rewards were being handed to the winners, small bronze medals for Tanya and the mysterious Kyle Stery, larger, golden medals for both Ash and Gary. Erica, Misty, Clair and Chuck had already received their prizes, and were sitting with the member of the Elite Four, as Lance handed the final medal to Ash, who couldn't deny that he had won, at least in the eyes of the leaders of the league. The announcement had created quite a stir in the stadium, and Ash could not help but feel guilty about it. 

Karen joined Lance, still in her tight black clothes. In her hands, she held two small velvet box, like the kind normally used to store jewelry, and as Ash realized what was in each box, he felt his heart beating faster, knowing at last that his dream had come true. She handed one to Lance, who in turn handed it to Ash, as Karen herself handed the second one to Gary.

"Congratulation Ash, congratulation Gary. You both fought well, and you both showed that you cared about your pokemon." She told them.

"And you deserve the title of pokemon master, both of you." Lance nodded, their voice echoing in the whole stadium.

"Thank you." Gary said, not really looking at them.

"Thank you." Ash added, then , in a whispering tone, to Lance only. "Thank you, dad."

For a brief moment, Lance's eyes filled with shock as he watched his son, doubtlessly wondering how he had found out about it. He soon seemed to recover from it, as he and Karen went to make a final, closure speech, ending the tournament. Ash did not listen to it, looking at the golden ring, with a pokeball-shaped sapphire resting on it, throwing a glance at Gary and his ring, ornamented with a pokeball-shaped ruby.

Looking at it closer, he noticed the letters p and m engrave don the stone, on either side of what would be the button on a real pokeball. Pokemon master. The one title he had dreamed to achieve as long as he could remember, and the one title he had finally achieved.

"Congratulation Ash. That was a good fight." Gary told him in a low tone.

"You fought well, too. That Nidoqueen of yours was really powerful." He complimented his friend.

"And your Charizard was good, too. Same for that Blastoise - but that was a sneaky trick trading back for him without warning me." Gary grinned.

"Hey, attacking Aysen the very second he came out of his pokeball was fair, maybe?" Ash grinned back.

"No, but all's fair in love and war." Gary was still grinning.

"Exactly." Ash's grin was just as present still.

"And...that was something brave you did, recalling your pokemon. Was she right? Karen, I mean?" He asked him.

"Yeah, basically. Fenrir told me if I ordered him to attack, our friendship would be over. I could have ordered him, but..."

"I guess I see...I wouldn't have forced Umbreon or any of my other pokemon to fight a battle they really didn't want to fight."

"Yeah. And then I thought that if I ordered him to attack and I won...then that would be two friendship lost. I decided it wasn't worth it."

"I figured that was part of it too." Gary nodded. "Sort of part of why I didn't just take the win when you called Fenrir back. I figured it just didn't work winning like that against a friend."

______________________

The water off the coast near the entrance of the Rock tunnel was agitated, a winter storm brewing, though not yet there. The landing support ship Succubus was getting ready for war Its deck was loaded with combat helicopters and vertical take-off and landing planes. Two powerfully armed frigates, the Nemesis and Succubus, stood ready to strike on either side, their powerful weapons fully operational. The banner of the Crimson Lotus floated in the wind, as Captain Zachary Aban waited for the order to strike. 

"Sir, we have a communication from the headquarters!" One of his men suddenly yelled, turning toward him. The man was a cadet, one of their most recent recruit, that he was assigned to such an important duty was proof enough of his skill, but he still had much to learn.

"Please don't yell ensign." He told the young man calmly.

"Yes sir." The young man nodded. "Anyway...the communication says that we should celebrate Winternight tomorrow." The crewman was definitely confused.

"At last." Zachary Aban smiled. "Get the crew ready, we strike tomorrow."

______________________

They had all gathered inside what they had been told was one of the best restaurants of the indigo plateau to eat and celebrate. Gary, of course, was there, along with Brock and Suzie, Misty and Ash and Damian and Elayne, while Tanya and Danea had said they would join them soon. Entering the restaurant, Ash had noticed a somehow familiar figure at a table, wearing a long hooded cloak, meeting another person in the same clothes, but he hadn't really bothered to find out who they were. 

"So, mister pokemon master, what would you like to eat?" Misty asked him teasingly, sitting right next to him, her arm tightly wrapped around his shoulders.

"I don't know...I'll just see what they offers...." He replied, looking at the many choices in the menu as Tanya and Danea joined them. Danea congratulated Ash warmly, smiling, but the only kind of congratulation Ash had gotten from Tanya was a gruff "congrats" delivered between clenched teeth, along with an icy look.

They soon ordered their food, and received it a while after. As they feasted, all of them eating as much as they could of the excellent food, enjoying a fancy meal like they rarely had the time or resources to eat, always traveling as they were.

As they were eating, Ash heard a voice he knew speaking besides him, a man in a long dark cloak he had not noticed coming in standing right besides him.

"So, you found out." Lance said matter-of-factly.

"Yes." Ash replied simply. There was no anger in his voice, there was none to feel. Even though he'd have liked to have father at his side while growing up, he had to admit that he would have found it hard living with the knowledge of all that his father had done, living with the pressure of being the son of a chief of state.

"And....do you hate me?" Lance asked, obviously not so sure about his own motive.

"No. You had good reason to leave me behind...you did it for me, not out of selfishness, so I guess it works out." Ash replied, knowing every word was the pure truth, as strange as it would probably seems to another who had grown up fatherless - Brock, for one, though there were huge differences between the two of them still.

"How do...how do you know about it?" Lance seemed slightly surprised, yet trying to control his surprise, as if he didn't want to make it too obvious to Ash that he was surprised.

"Ever heard of the dragon shrine?" Ash answered, looking at his father.

"Oh, I should have guessed." Lance moved his hand to his face, almost as if he was trying to hide behind them.

"Why would you have guessed?" Ash answered, puzzled by his father's behavior. "It's not like you had any way to know about..." he suddenly interrupted himself, as some pieces of the puzzle fell in place. "Wait a minute. Claire said someone ORDERED her to make sure we went there...That was you, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was me. You had to go there, there just wasn't a choice about it." Lance looked at his son. "I know you're probably thinking I was mad sending you in a dangerous place like that, but I had no choices."

"Why?" Ash retaliated, trying to keep anger from rising in him. The others were apparently oblivious to their discussion, except Danea, who had her eyes glowing as if she was preventing the others from even noticing Ash and Lance talking.

"A friend of mine...can perceive the future, to a certain extant." He explained, choosing his words carefully. "She told me you had to go there."

"Yeah, well, I'd like to meet that friend..." he left it hanging, as the two cloaked figures he had noticed earlier rose, joining them. Somehow, they were aware of what was happening, unlike everyone else. One of them lowered the hood of her cloak, revealing an old, wrinkled face surrounded by gray hair.

"Then, meet me." She smiled at him, revealing a few missing teeth, and causing even more wrinkles to appear on her face. "I am Agatha. Of the Elite Four." She added, almost lazily, as if it was a detail. Ash looked at her, not sure to believe his father wild claim.

"Stop it Ash." The second one said. "Maybe you won't trust her because you don't know her but hopefully you'll trust ME." The somehow familiar hooded figure lowered the hood of his cloak, revealing a familiar face, framed by dark hair held in place by a red headband.

"Tracey?" Ash asked, stunned amazement replacing every other feeling in him.

"Yes, it's me. To make a long story short, Agatha found me a year ago, took me as her apprentice, yes, she can see the future, so can I. Is that enough for you?" the young man did not add anything.

"I...I guess it is..." He said, still surprised by the turn of events. 

"Good, young one." Agatha said. "Now, we need to go before your aunt tire. Keeping all your friend away from our little chat is draining her quickly."

With that, the two of them left, soon followed by Lance, who, as he left, turned toward Danea, smiling at her.

"Thanks for the help, little sister." He told her. As he left, Ash had the strange feeling that someone was looking at him, but the only thing he could see was his distorted reflection in the window of the restaurant.

________________________

No, decidedly, it had not been a good idea to join the Cerulean militia, lieutenant Stephan Ardakos decided as he sat alone in the radar control room of the Rock Tunnel outpost, waiting for something, anything to happen, as long as it broke the monotony of being on guard duty for a day without end. 

Or course, there was the old saying of soldiers, that things being calm was a good thing, as exciting things were usually the one where you had the most chances of being killed. And, as military wisdom went, being killed would lead to a lot more time bored than just having to stand guard with nothing happening for hours to no end. 

Of course, as the thought crossed his mind, leaving a smile on his lips, something unexpected happened, as a multitude of dots appeared to the north-west, moving quickly, either airplanes or helicopters judging from their height and speed - and heading straight for him. His first attempt at counting revealed more than twenty such dots, and he was sure he had missed some. He had wanted excitement, he would be served - it seemed now that someone had elected Rock Tunnel has the entrance door of an invasion force.

He rushed for the radio, hoping to be able to call the Cerulean Headquarters in time, to warn them of the situation, but he was too late, as he found as soon as he tried to power it up that a powerful jamming covered all frequencies he could use for the call. It was definitely an invasion, and a well-planned one.

With some reluctance, he picked up his rifle, running for the rocky area near the entrance, hoping to be able to get a few good shots at the attackers before they did too much damage. Of course, he could run away, and old soldiers wisdom seemed to say he should - after all, better be a coward for a few minutes than dead forever - but he just couldn't. He had wanted excitement, he had been served, now he would eat as much of the plate as he could.

________________________

The last of the helicopters took off, returning to the Succubus, their operations complete. The first airlifted squadron had taken some losses in the battle for Rock tunnel, all of them to a single man, who had fought alone, defending the entrance of the tunnel with a rifle and a very heavy dose of courage and strenght, killing ten men before he could be brought down. It had been a shame, really, to have to kill him, Zachary Aban reflected as he surveyed the arrival of the Succubus, unloading two armored squadrons on the shore. Had there been a way to capture him alive, he could have been converted and turned in a warrior who would be able to do a lot for the Crimson Lotus.

But at least they had succeeded in their mission, taking the entrance of the tunnel before anyone could notice, thanks mostly to the help of a frigate off the coast blocking off all communications with advanced electronic warfare equipment. The local pokemon center, which many of his men took to be an abomination in the eyes of God, had been burned down, no traces of it left. There had been no one, pokemon or human inside, as if it had been abandoned a while ago, closed down for reasons he could not fathom.

Yet, even though the losses of his side were heavier, and even though he had failed to capture anyone to attempt to convert, Zachary Aban felt pride swelling within himself. They had succeeded, the first strike had been delivered.

War had begun, even though none knew it.

"Signal our success to General Oak."


	5. Part 5 : The Flower of Blood

Part 5 : The Flower of Blood

Chapter 21 : Invasion

"General Oak? We got a signal from the frigate _Predator_. They are warning us that if we keep heading south at this rate we will enter the detection range of the Cerulean coastal defense in thirty minutes." A young officer signaled.

"General Oak, the Obliterator report that they engaged and successfully captured a ship that saw us. Thanks to the communication jamming we have up, nothing got out. Minimal losses on both side, and the ship is heading for the Headquarters with a capture crew.

"General Oak? We are getting a message from the Frigate _Manticore_."

May tensed suddenly as the information reached her. The _Manticore_ was farther west, and served to relay messages from the _Succubus_ task force to her, informing her of the way things went with the attack on Rock tunnel.

"They are relying the information that this year's winternight was a success." The man told her. Unlike most other officer, this one actually knew what winternight was about, what had just happened. He knew of the war that had just started.

May sighed in relief, knowing that the crimson Lotus could finally move openly, as all was no ready. 

"Signal the fleet to halt." She ordered one of the communication officer. "Then, give me a direct communication line with the Lotus Headquarters."

"Yes, General." The man saluted her, before moving back to his control panel. Soon, she felt the [i]Bloodsword[/i] shuddering to an halt, as the other ships of the fleet did the same, slowing down. They were just outside of the detection range of the Cerulean coastal defense, which meant they were a few hours away from the city itself.

Soon, the videoscreen turned on, revealing the aged face of the man who led the Crimson Lotus.

"General Oak?" He asked, his face taking an hawk-like appearance. As old as he was, there was still a great deal of strength left in the man. "What is it?"

"We have succeeded, and are ready to continue." She answered, not giving away too much, even though the communication was covered by a powerful signal to prevent any attempt at intercepting it.

"Very well. I am going to call President Blackthorn and his...friends." the man nodded. "Launch your attack in exactly half an hour."

________________________

The tournament was over, and as the sun rose as always over Indigo on that monday, most gym leaders had already left the town, going back to their homes. Misty, of course, was not going anywhere, and Brock and Suzie were still around, but mostly every other gym leader had left. 

The night before, finally building up his courage, Ash had admitted to his friends - not only Misty, who already knew about it, but all others - that Lance was his fater, something that Danea, whom they mostly all knew, had confirmed. And now, wearing his long blue cloak in the streets of Indigo, he followed his father toward the league headquarter. 

Now that he was a pokemon master and the co-winner of the tournament, there was not much point in trying to keep Ash hidden from the glares of the cameras. Gary was there also, and so was Misty, the first as he was the other co-winner and another pokemon master, the other as a gym leader. With their titles, and the fact that they were entering along with Lance himself, there would be no problem entering the headquarters.

They quickly walked by the guards at the main gate, Lance letting his hand rest on an infrared panel to open the door. As they went in the main building slightly past the gate, they were met by a very pretty young woman with long, purple hair, wearing glasses over her blue eyes.

"Lance." She greeted Ash's father, smiling at him.

"Lorelei." He nodded back, smiling too. "How are you?" he asked her.

"Great, though we might have a problem." She answered, and her smile disappeared, her face becoming very serious.

"What is it?" Lance asked, his face suddenly becoming just as serious. Lorelei threw a significant glance at Ash and his companions, and he suddenly remembered were he had met her before: in the Orange islands, were she had been travelling, and were Misty had openly admitted she was her idol. 

"Don't worry, they're safe to be around. Pokemon masters for the two boys, one the grandson of Samuel Oak, the other my own son I mentioned to you and Bruno once or twice. The third is a gym leader, as you probably know so they all have a certain ranking as league officials."

"If you say so." Lorelei nodded. "I think I met your son and the gym leader once before." She added. "And of course I've seen them a lot in the recent tournaments. I already knew they were pokemon masters, it's just...sensitive stuff...but if the president is willing to give them clearance to that stuff..." she looked at him teasingly.

"Get to the point..." Lance told her, starting to sound a bit impatient.

"Alright. We lost all contact with Rock tunnel at some point last night."

"Darn." This time, the seriousness on Lance face was definitely not faked. Something big had happened, alright. "Have you tried to check it out?"

"The people over at Lighthouse point have sent a pair of their best choppers to check it out." Lorelei nodded. 

"That's our closest military airport....guess they were the best choice to check it out." Lance nodded, while Ash tried to make some sense of what was happening as they walked inside the building.

Suddenly, a big, muscular man rushed toward them, a man that Ash knew, having met him once before.

"Lance, buddy, you're there!" Come quick, we're getting the report from those choppers, they're almost at Rock Tunnel!" He told them, barely even noticing Misty and Gary, and throwing a look at Ash, then Lance, smiling. Lance looked around, especially at the three young trainers.

"Darn. I'd rather not have you in there, but I guess it's too late, and I sure can't let you wander around...just promise me you aren't going to do anything that would be a problem to us..." Lance told them.

"Of course!" Ash said, his friends giving similar answers a moment later.

They all entered the room, Bruno leading, Lance second, then the three of them, who got a short glance from Agatha before she turned back to listening to the report that was being heard by everyone in the room.

"We are about to reach Rock Tunnel...nothing to report yet...the radar station still seems to be there...Wait! the Pokemon Center looks like it was burned down! Repeat, pokemon center burned down..." the voice said, and everyone in the room glanced questioningly at everyone else.

"There seems to be a ship close to the shore...make that two...wait, there are at least four ships out there..." the voice continued, giving them a better idea of the situation, but no clear insight as to what was up.

"DAMN IT!" the man suddenly yelled over the radio. "Someone's locking a missile launcher on us or something! They've got a missile off!" the voice added, obviously trying to control the panic, yet failing. "They..." the voice died, and they could only presume the helicopter had been destroyed by whoever was there.

"All right, any idea on what's that?" Lance asked them all.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, because the radar station is intact but the pokemon center was burned down." Agatha nodded, her voice old and tired.

"I think I see what you are talking about..." Lorelei nodded. "It almost has..." she was interrupted by a buzz from the console near Lance's seat.

"What is it?" He said,

"President Blackthorn? We have a priority message for you. Source unknown." The voice told Ash's father, as Ash looked around at everyone gathered, wondering what they were thinking about. His own mind was on the fact that the voice of the helicopter pilot had not sounded that old. He was probably no more than a few years older than Ash himself. Or rather, had been. Now, of course, he was dead.

"President Blackthorn." A man's voice said as his face appeared on the screen. He was almost as old as Agatha, but there was a distinctive strength that could easily be seen.

"What do you want?" Lance asked, at the same time as Agatha hissed.

"Maximilian" She glared at the face on the screen, her eyes filled with hatred.

"Agatha, Agatha. I see you still think the same way of me."

"Why would my feeling change, scum?" she asked her fiercely.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Such a language from a lady like you. At your age, you should know better...It must be a result of your...improper...closeness with those creatures of darkness you insist on raising." The voice had become hard as steel, the eyes of the man filling with ice as he made the comment.

"That tired old nonsense again?" Agatha said

"Please, sir, please Agatha. That's beside the point." Lance stopped them. "What is it that you want?" he asked.

"I am only warning you, as international laws require that I do. I am the leader of the group known as the Crimson Lotus. You might have heard of us." The man smirked, while the faces of Agatha, Lance, Lorelei and Bruno filled with steel.

"Crimson Lotus." Lance muttered. "What a surprise." He said, obviously not meaning the last. "What is it that you want, so that we can end this...displeasing...talk?"

"A simple warning, as I was saying. As of right now, the Crimson Lotus is officially at war with the state of Kanto." He looked at them all. 

"What?" Lance roared.

"How dare you!" Agatha added, all traces of weakness and tiredness suddenly gone from her voice, though she still looked as old as always.

"You bastard!" Lorelei added.

"As nice as this chat is, I'm afraid I have to leave you...I have pressin matters to attend to. Such as overseeing your defeat, for one." The man said, looking at them, then the screen went blank.

"DAMN THE MAN!" Lorelei said as soon as the screen was out. 

"We just don't have the military forces to fight back against them...they certainly have enough forces to grind us down." Bruno nodded.

"I know, but we can't give up." Lance countered. We have to fight back."

"I know we have to. We'll give it our best shot. But unless they made a serious blunder somewhere we lost already. We just don't have enough forces to fight back, and we certainly lack weaponry..."

As they continued to talk, Ash let the terrible news seeping slowly in him. As he did so, an idea began to take form at the back of his mind. 

____________________________

May watched as the ships carrying the troop edged closer to Cerulean City, watching for any sign of an enemy counterattack against them. Cerulean was not too shabbily defended, as recent reports indicated about a thousand or so defenders, as well as a few air force squadron at the lighthouse point base. Of course, these would soon be taken care off by the Bloodsword's own squadrons, sneaking toward the base at almost sea level to avoid the radars.

"General, the frigate Basilisk signal that they are in position." A first voice reported, and she nodded.

"General, the submarine Slaughterer reached position outside Cerulean harbor." A second voice added.

"General, the transports of the First and Second Marine division are ready for the landing." The last voice said, as she turned toward the three communication officers who had relayed the messages from the warships to her.

"Order Colonel Andar and Colonel Trevor to wait a moment." She told one, giving her orders for the leaders of their two marine divisions. "Transmit this order to the Obliterator. I want them to move within range of the beach, so that they can crush the opposition with their heavy cannons." She ordered the second one. " Order two frigates - Griffin and Afreet - to do the same." She added, talking to the third one.

"Yes, General." They all nodded at once, and immediately started moving. They had been well trained, both in obedience and in the ability to take the initiative when it was needful, and that was just what the Lotus needed.

_________________

From the top of the tower that stood near the Cerulean gym, Lily Waterflower watched the approaching fleet, her eyes detailing all the information she could find about the opposition. She liked nothing of what she saw, but then, why would there be anything to like in that? They were outnumbered, outgunned, and out-everything. She could easily estimate to nearly three thousands the number of soldiers the enemy was ready to field, thrice what she could field. She went back in the elevator, heading downstairs to talk to her sisters, in the gym on the other side of the street. There was no time to loose, with the assault coming.

"There's no way to save the city." Were the first words out of her mouth as she joined them. "We're just too badly outnumbered."

"I expected as much." Daisy nodded. "Is there any chance we can try to evacuate some people?"

"Maybe." Lily answered, her face bleak. "If we manage to pin them down on the beach for a while, we could manage to evacuate some people..."

"The Pokemon center crew first." Violet nodded. "Then, every trainer we can find. And let everyone know to keep their pokemon very well hidden, or, if they can, release them in the forest near the town." She looked at both of her sisters at once. "See to it, everyone. We have no time to loose."

"Shouldn't we plan some sort of defensive tactic, first?" Daisy objected.

"What's there to plan? You take about four hundreds or so soldiers and escort everyone we evacuate toward Saffron. Violet take an hundred or so, and head toward Pewter, and make sure to collapse the Mount Moon tunnel. We don't want them sneaking on Pewter that way. I'll take the rest and try to buy you all some time."

Both of her sisters looked at her, and she hesitated, but stood firm. Someone had to lead the troop that would stay behind and buy everyone the time to flee, and she would take the role.

The storm would soon begin.

___________________________

Her soldiers were falling around her like flies, despite trying to put up a good fight. They had been repeatedly forced to withdraw over the last few hours, first to the city outskirts, still trying to draw the enemy away from the main ways out toward Pewter and Saffron, then they had been forced to withdraw downtown. Seeing as they were being slaughtered again, there was no choice but to order another withdrawal, this time toward the gym at the heart of the town. 

Picking up the riffle of a fallen soldier, she took a few shot at a Lotus sniper who was fighting from the top of a building, and had the satisfaction, tainted with disgust, to see him falling in the street, hit. Two more lotus troopers turned a corner, and one fell to her shooting, while another fell to the shooting of a young soldier standing beside her.

They ran toward the entrance of the gym, the only place still defended in the whole city, and one that was conveniently located away from the two roads were the refugees were fleeing. They would succeed at allowing them to flee, but no one of them would make it out, probably.

She slowly went downstairs, as her troops did their best to hold the entrance of the gym, shooting at the lotus soldiers every time they came close to the entrance. As she entered the room the League had insisted was built, she heard an explosion, certainly that of the main door being blown away. The one wound she had received, from a shot that had passed very close to her leg, causing a small cut to appear, was painful, but far from preventing her to do anything. And certainly not preventing her from doing what she had to.

When the league had heard disquieting report of the Lotus building a base in the vicinity of Cerulean city, they had insisted that such a system was to be installed at the gym, and as Lily pulled the keyboard that controlled it, she could do nothing but agree. They could not let the Lotus take the gym and all the league-related sensitive information it held.

Feverishly, hoping to finish in time, she started entering the codes that would trigger the hidden explosives charges within the gym, and destroy it. She was nearly done, ready to press the enter key for the last time, when she heard a blast, then the sun of a gun shooting, and the keyboard flew in pieces before her eyes, causing many shards to hit her hands and arms. She winced in pain as she turned, facing a squadron of Lotus troops standing there. She moved her hands upwards, in a sign of surrender. They had lost.

Cerulean had fallen - at a ridiculously low cost for the Lotus. The only positive tought in Lily mind as the trooper bound her hands behind her back was that at least Violet and Daisy had evacuated the city in time. 

______________________________

Lily was soon brought before the one who apparently lead the Lotus Army, one General May Oak. The name and figure sounded familiar, though she could not replace it, lost in her mind as she tried to comprehend the events of the last few hour. It was an additional surprise to discover that the leader of the assault was a woman, and one younger than Lily herself at that. The woman looked at her with curiosity in her brown eyes.

"You were very courageous." The woman complimented her.

"What?" Lily asked in puzzlement. She had certainly not expected to be complimented by an enemy leader for her courage, especially since, to her mind, she had done nothing that courageous.

"Staying behind to buy the others the time to flee. I don't know many persons about our age that would do that. And even if you are my enemy, that doesn't prevent me from respecting you for what you did." The woman explained. "You are a brave warrior, and that is something to respect in an enemy. Those who fail to see what is worth respect in the opposition die young."

"Ah." Lily answered, sill puzzled by the behavior. Suddenly, the woman took another tone.

"So...all pleasant talking set aside...I believe we should start at the beginning...from your look and age, I'd say you are Lily Waterflower. Am I correct?" she asked, and her eyes became hard as steel, reminding Lily of the handcuffs securing her hands behind her back. She hesitated a long time before answering, not knowing what advantage the opposing leader could get of her name, finally deciding that there was nothing worth resisting over. 

"Yes..." 

"You are worthy of respect for your courage Lily, I told you that already." The young woman looked at her. "I will do my best to see that the questioners are not too hard on you. In fact...I believe that if you were to swear fealty to the crimson lotus here and now, I might be able to avoid such unpleasantness totally." She offered. Lily sighed. She had heard a little about the questioners, from guards mostly, and didn't really want to experience their methods, but swearing fealty to the Lotus would be a simple denial of everything she believed in.

"I'm afraid I can't accept." She answered.

"You stand up for what you believe in, no matter the cost." The General nodded. "Very well then. I will still try to make sure you are spared as much as you can be, but there is not that much I can do. The offer still stand, should you choose to accept it." The voice of the young woman told her, and Lily felt for a second an urge to go back and accept.

Before she could do any such, two guards stepped in from outside the room, taking her back to her cell to await the coming of the questioners.

Chapter 22 : Plans of War

The league headquarters were in a state of turmoil, a state that was reflected throughout the city of Indigo. There had been little choice, once the news of the attack on Cerulean had come, but to reveal the fact that Kanto was at war. Lance had already called the leaders of both the Orange and Johto leagues, hoping to gain some reinforcements, but not really expecting to succeed, at least not in time to change much.

The news had started to filer among the trainers in the city, and most of them were in panic, trying to find a way to escape the rushing tide of war. Ash and Misty knew more than most, but also, somehow, just couldn't panic, as if some force was keeping them calm. The feeling that panic had no use for them, and would only serve the opposition was strong in them, preventing them from falling to the deep fear they felt as much as anyone else.

"Just what's the Crimson Lotus?" Ash had asked his father, trying to understand what this was all about.

"They're a...sect, I suppose...that got started about a thousand years or so ago...Maybe a bit more, around the time where the first pokemon trainers kicked the Westerners and their One God philosophy out of Johto and Kanto. their main belief is that Pokemons are creatures of darkness, evil beings, and that anyone who train them or associate with them in anyway either is evil already or will be corrupted, becoming evil as well." He had explained. "I suppose I'd think that too if my side had just had his ass kicked in a war by pokemon and I happened to believe my side was the side of God..."

"Okkkaaaayyyy..." had been Misty's reply, while Gary had called the whole thing a crazy religion, while his eyes had turned speculative, as if he was forming up a plan. 

The bad news were more in the military domain, were league forces were badly outnumbered, nearly three to one in fact. The Crimson Lotus would have an easy time sweeping over the defenses of the league, taking town after town until nothing was left of Kanto. According to Lance, the Crimson Lotus had been bidding its time, waiting in the shadow until it was ready to strike, with the size to take victory. Now, they were ready, and they were attacking.

____________________________

Reaching for the sky, made of concrete and shining glass, the towers of the Silph Corporation were definitely the highest buildings in all of the megalopolis of Saffron. From the top of the northern tower, nearly eighteen hundred feets above the ground, one could easily see the surrounding countryside, far to the north, east and west, only south being hidden by the mass of the second of the twin towers. In all directions, the great hills of the Saffron Highlands dominated the view, though none of them were even as high as the tower. 

Further north, a cloud of smoke marked Cerulean City. Even though what few reports they had received from aerial reconnaissance and Gengar's little scout trip showed no sign that anything not related to pokemon had been burned, the cloud of smoke was still there. Sabrina watched it from the top of the tower, Daisy at her side, Erica standing slightly off. The young psychic gym leader had called for a meeting the second her psychics and their probing had confirmed the fall of Cerulean and Lavender, long before the League had announced it, and a few hours before Daisy's arrival in the city.

They went back to seat around the table, that had until recently been the table for the meetings of the Silph Corporation executives, until Sabrina had expropriated it for her own use. Of course, as a place that let them see the general vicinity, it was definitely better than her gym to hold the meeting.

A hand knocked on the door, a harsh sound, as there was definitely great strength in the hand of whoever was knocking. With a smile, Sabrina used her psychic power to open the door, letting it a visibly concerned Jonathan Surge.

"You're in trouble." He told her bluntly as soon as he entered.

"I know." She replied, pointing to the column of smoke, and the figure of Daisy.

"I wasn't talking about that, I was talking about your silly Gengar waking me up in the middle of the night with scary faces to get me here." The man muttered, glaring at her, and Sabrina had to try very hard to keep herself from laughing. "But admittedly, the Lotus is more trouble for you than I am." His face became very serious. "Erica, Daisy." He nodded to the two of them. "I'm glad to see some of the people of Cerulean made it here. There has been no announcement of that yet." He told them.

"Most of them have yet to arrive, but Sabrina came and fetched me, saying she wanted to hold a meeting."

"And then she came and fetched me." Erica added.

"Why did you have to send your Gengar to fetch me then?" The man grumbled, looking at her. Sabrina looked back at him.

"Teleportation is tiring, as I told you before." She answered simply.

"Yeah, sure." He grumbled, reminding Sabrina of the grouchy ursarings that cartoon makers were so found of.

"Anyway, that's not why I wanted you all here." She said, before anyone else could talk. "It occurred to me that maybe we should plan our next moves, since the Lotus are sure to come for us."

"We won't hold any of the town." Surge said bluntly. "We just can't do it. Best thing to do is try to slow them down here in Saffron to at least buy the time to evacuate Saffron completely, then getting the civilians off to the sea once we run from Vermilion. That means holding Saffron long enough to evacuate it and Celadon. After that, we can start pulling back. I'm not sure if it'll work, though. They might be able to overwhelm us here."

"We're going to need time for that." Daisy pointed out.

"We have some. They're going to have to stop and regroup before starting down south, and land more troops in Cerulean so we don't slip in from behind and cut their supply lines."

"What?" Erica asked. The Celadon gym leader was a brilliant diplomat and a great artist, but her understanding of tactic and military operation was quite limited.

"You see, right now they hold Cerulean. If they were to move now, and start south toward Saffron, they'd have to be careful to avoid leaving themselves too open to a counterattack from behind. Because if we retake Cerulean, they won't be able to send more troops to help their forces, or ammunitions, or supplies of any kind. That's why they have to land more troops in Cerulean before they can move against Saffron." Surge explained her. Erica nodded, and from what she could feel, the young woman did understand quite clearly.

"It certainly make sense. Maybe we should find a way to attack those shipments?" She suggested, and Surge nodded.

"You're picking up fast." He gave her one of his rare smile.

"Thank you." Was her only answer.

"All right. We need a way to attack the shipments, and we need a way to hold the town for a while. Slowing them down on the way south seems the best way." Surge detailed the situation.

"We also need to shut down the Highlands Underpasses." Sabrina noted, referring to the two highways that ran under the town of Saffron, between Cerulean and Vermilion for one, and Lavender and Celadon for the other. 

"Definitely. The East-West underpass as soon as possible. I think we might want only to lock down the southern gates of the North-South one, though." Daisy said, for the first time really offering a suggestion in the debate.

"Why?" Surge asked her curiously.

"Simple. If I remember what I learned well, the Saffron Dam is the only thing holding the water of the Highland Lakes from flooding that underpass, right?" She asked, and Sabrina gasped as the idea of what Lily was hinting at struck her.

"Yeah..." she replied slowly, hoping she was wrong.

"What do you think would possibly happen if we opened all the flood gates of the dam at once - with the tunnel half-full of Lotus troops?"

"I like the way you think." Surge grinned.

"There's one problem though." Sabrina pointed out. "The control center for the flood gates is in the Guard house of the tunnel - which will certainly be a primary target of the Lotus forces."

"Not much of a problem, no." A new voice, that of a woman, said from the door. They all turned to look at a young adult in Hoshoan clothes, followed by a group of black-clothed warriors. They all knew her, of course, as the sister of one of their fellow gym leader, and Sabrina had heard of the warriors accompanying her before, the elite force of Ninja gathered and trained by Koga.

"Aiya, it's a pleasure to see you." Sabrina said, meaning it. With some members of the Shinobi elite getting involved, sneaking in the guard house would be a piece of cake.

"My brother sent me to give you an hand, he thought you might use some sneaky help. Actually, he came up with the flood plan too, and he sent me to take care of it, but since you were going to do it as well, I suppose we might benefit from working together." Aiya told them.

"Actually, I'd go as far as saying we can't succeed without each other." Sabrina corrected quickly. 

"What?" Aiya asked.

"We need the stealth of your ninja to get things running, and you need me to open the door to that control room." She explained. "The door is controlled by fingerprints detection, only the elite four and I - and the director of the dam, who wouldn't be of much help - can get in." She finished.

"I see." Aiya nodded. "I hope you can be stealthy." She said.

"Don't worry. I can be as stealthy as you, if not more." Sabrina smiled, concentrating on warping their perception of her, from that of a woman to that of empty air. There were gasps from Daisy and Surge, who had never seen her doing it, and Erica smiled knowingly, while Aiya just watched, interested.

"I believe that will be enough." Aiya smiled, and Sabrina warped their perceptions again, back to her normal self.

"Alright, now about hitting their shipments..." Surge started, and they all went back to their strategy planning.

___________________________________

It had taken five days after the assault on Cerulean for Gary and Ash to gather all the trainers in the vicinity of Indigo, using all the influence that his titles meant to try to convince them to come to the park, away from the Headquarters, where he intended to make his speech. Now, as he looked at the gathered trainers, most of them whom he knew, Gary wondered again if this was really the thing to do.

"All right. I suppose you all wonder why I asked you to come here?" He asked them, hoping fervently that Ash had managed to convince Lance to keep all leagues officials away from meddling there. That had been is part in the actual speech, though he had been as instrumental to the creation of the original plan as Gary. If Leagues official started meddling in the discussion here, things might not go as well as he planned they would, and he wasn't planning things would go too well already.

"I guess it has to do with the Crimson Lotus." AJ's voice said from somewhere.

"Yes, it does. It has to do with how all of you have been reacting to it. You're all afraid they'll kill you, but you do nothing to try to change that, do you?" he asked them, watching for their reactions.

"What can we do? I mean, they're coming to kill us...if we don't fight, they kill us, if we fight, they kill us...And they have gun, we have no way to fight back." another trainer, whom Gary recognized as Shingo Musashi, a well-known pokemon tactician.

"You're wrong. We CAN fight back." Another voice objected. "We're all fighters, and we all have our own weapons." A new voice said, and Gary turned, identifying the new speaker as Ashton Maxwell. "We can fight, we all proved it - that's the whole reason we came here in the first place, to fight against each other."

"Exactly." The voice came from the hooded form of Kyle Stery, who nodded in agreement. "They have way better guns and the like, but our weapons are equally deadly. They fight by commanding technology, bending the world to their will. We'll fight back by allying with the living forces, working together with the elements." He said, a strange tone to his voice. "Our fire pokemon can burn them down to ashes, and our ice pokemon freeze them in place. Our water pokemon can flood the roads they'll take, and our thunder pokemon fry their so precious technology. Our rock pokemon can crush their valuable tanks with their rock slides, and our ground pokemon can trap them with tremendous earthquakes. Our psychic types can make them see what we want them to see, not what really is, and our ghost pokemon can end their dreams, and their live. Our dark pokemon can strike in the depths of the night, and our steel types, shield us from their guns. We can fight back." He told them, his eyes almost seeming to be blazing under his hooded cloak.

"That's exactly what I mean. We CAN fight back. And for another thing, what's better? Dying being executed, or dying fighting so that some of us get a shot at surviving? And there's something else. All of us here, we share a special bond to pokemon. Do we really want to stand there, and let the kill us, our pokemon, and all the wild pokemon they find?" he told them, talking as if a flame was rising inside him.

"Yeah! You're right!" Maxwell yelled again, his fist high in the air. "We HAVE to fight!"

"Yeah!" Many others took up the shout, AJ, Suzie and even Richie among them, all of them seeming ready to fight.

"These Lotus guy thinks they can come in and start killing people just for being trainer. We'll show them they're wrong!" Gary yelled again. "Arcanine, Umbreon, go, both of you!" he called out his two favorite pokemon, his Arcanine roaring in defiance the second she came out. Many other pokemon were being called out, and told of what would happen, and their roars filled the air.

"I think Gary and his friend Ash should lead us, shouldn't they? After all, they're the ones behind this - and the best of us all." Kyle Stery said, his half-hidden eyes seeming to glow yet again, as Gary wondered how it was that he knew of Ash's involvement in the plan.

"Yeah!" Again, the roar was taken up by the whole crowd, as they were ready to fight.

"Thank you." He turned toward Kyle. "You really helped a lot." He told him, wondering how exactly the young man had known the thing to say at the right moment to get the movement really started.

"No, not really. I only gave you a little help, but you would have done it alone. The fuel was already there, all they needed was someone to light the match, and you did that just fine." The young man answered mysteriously.

___________________________

Lance looked annoyingly at the window of his office, wondering what the noise outside was about, and why Ash had been so insistent about keeping the police out of the southern parts of Indigo. Someone knocked at the door, and he reluctantly went and opened, revealing the young man in question.

"Ash? What do you want?" he asked his son.

"Just to give you something that you might see as good news, a good idea, or else an atrocious idea, but if it's the later, then it's too late to change it." Ash told him.

"Why do I have a feeling I won't like it?" Lance rolled his eyes.

"Well, Gary and I thought that since the Lotus are out to kill every trainer and pokemon, maybe we could give a shot at convincing the trainers that at least if we tried fighting back, some of us might make it out alive..." Ash explained. Lance looked at him, suddenly having an idea of where this was going.

"Go ahead." He told his son.

"Simply put, we gathered a few trainers, and asked them what they thought. They appear to prefer the idea of dying fighting for their own lives and their pokemon's to the idea of getting slaughtered without fighting."

"I'm not too sure I like that idea...and what exactly do you mean by a few trainers?" he asked his son suspiciously. There had been an hint of something in Ash's eyes and Lance definitely wanted to know what it was.

"Oh, well, all the trainers in the general vicinity of Indigo in the last week or so...we traveled around on our pokemon, called them, asked for some help from a few friends...maybe a few hundred, five or so..." Ash said, his eyes glinting.

"And are we supposed to have the weapons for all of them? To give them the training?" Lance objected.

"You are forgetting one thing dad. We don't need weapons, we don't need training. We already have our weapons and already are trained with them. Aren't we Raiken?" he asked the pikachu resting on his shoulders. "Pokemon can kill just as effectively as guns, even more effectively in some cases. Just because they almost never unleash their full powers doesn't mean they can't kill. They can, you know it as well as I do." He argued, while Lance noticed Lorelei coming up from behind Ash.

"What your son is saying has real possibilities Lance." She told him. "Pokemon control the elements, and controlling the element might just be enough to turn the tide of the war. Five hundred trainers with six pokemon each means three thousand pokemon at least - more, actually, since they probably all have some pokemon stored away at some league office and we can make sure they can use all their pokemon with them - that might be enough to change the flow of the war completely." She said, looking at him.

as much as he hated it, Lance had to admit they were right. Each of these pokemon had attacks or could learn attacks that would make them as deadly as a machine gun fired from afar. And with their numbers, they could very easily stand as a third, if not more, of the forces the league would be able to field.

"I guess it's not too bad an idea Ash...just be careful not to get yourself killed..." Lance said, putting his hand on his son's shoulder, admitting to himself for the first time he had often be worried over the years about him. 

"Don't worry. I'll be alright." Ash replied, smiling at his father.

Chapter 23 : City of Shadow

The evacuation of Saffron and Celadon was going well, most of the refugees being already well underway toward Vermilion and Fuchsia. Sabrina was now only waiting for the last groups of refugees they were planning to move to safety, the survivors of Cerulean, to leave the town. Once they would have done that, the only thing left to do would be to wait for the Crimson Lotus to show up, something that would probably happen very soon. The most recent reports had them a few hours north of the city, in battle with a few of the best Saffranian troops.

She looked again at Aiya and her group of Ninja, all of them who had shown her time and time again over the course of the last week that they were aces when it came to sneaking somewhere without being seen, and to fading in the shadows. 

"In a few hours, it'll be time for us to go." She told Aiya, looking at her, her eyes serious. 

"Yes." Aiya nodded, as they both stood at the top of the Silph tower again, waiting for the time to be right for them to make their move.

They stood silent, as they kept a close watch on the reports coming in, of Saffranian troops withdrawing to avoid taking too much losses, and of the Lotus constant advance. Soon, the roar of the engines of the vehicles of the Saffranian militia was heard, followed shortly after by the roar of the engines of the vehicles of the Lotus army, helicopters in the lead.

Within a few moments, the helicopters were landing on the top of the gate house, unloading troops.

"You know, I just thought of something." Sabrina said suddenly. "How are we getting out of there?" she looked at Aiya, who simply pointed at the helicopters on the top.

"All right." Sabrina nodded, ready for the move, wondering a bit in the depths of her mind why there were so few ways to open the door, and what would happen in the unlikely events all of them were unable to use it at a critical moment. She then pushed the thought aside, choosing to make herself mentally ready for the raid.

"It's time." Aiya told her a moment after she started doing so, or what seemed like a moment, but in fact seemed closer to half an hour spent in meditation.

"All right. Let's go." Sabrina nodded, leading them out of the Silph tower, toward the northern entrance of Saffron. They left the city stealthily, sneaking through a back door in a side service tunnel of the underpass, that was often used by people walking to avoid crossing the main road. The tunnel would eventually lead them to the northern gatehouse itself, they knew that.

Once they entered the building, Aiya quickly gave a few orders, and soon the rest of the team of Ninja was gone, leaving only the two of them.

"I don't think we'll need them for the other part, and someone need to secure the helicopter." She quickly explained, her voice hushed, before calling upon the energies of Shinobi, a force similar to the one called upon by both psychics and Kai masters. Soon, all that was left of the young ninja was a faint shadowy outline, a dim shadow that none would see without seeking.

"Now I see why they say that Ninja lives in the shadow." Sabrina nodded as they headed toward the room, and she made sure to probe the vicinity for anyone who needed to be deluded about her presence, while making sure Aiya could keep sight of her.

Very soon, they reached the room they were trying for, surprised to see that both guards there were already locked deep in battle, faced by an Arbok and a Weezing, attacking with all their powerful poisonous tactics. The two guards were not faring well, the dark clouds of nauseous matters soon sending them to the ground writhing in agony.

"Arbok, return" A woman's voice said in a hushed tone.

"Weezing, come back." A man voice added, his tone much the same. The owners of the two voice soon stepped in, wearing black combat suit with, surprisingly, the leaf-shaped mark of the Earth Badge with a stylized R under it on the back, marking them as members of Giovanni's elite security force for the Viridian gym, the Raptor's Talon, a marking that was further confirmed by the talon shaped-insignia on their shoulders. One of them had middle length blue hair loose over his face, while the other had long, red hair. They moved toward the door, apparently determinate to open it.

"Jessie, what did the boss tell us about that door?" The man asked the woman hurriedly, his emerald eyes intent.

"He talked about a special switch he made sure was installed..." the woman replied, and Sabrina, still invisible, watched them curiously. She walked near them, letting her hand rest on the mechanical device, which could perceive her despite the invisibility, as it had no mind to be fooled. Suddenly, she heard Aiya swearing, and half a second later, heard the explosion of a bullet being fired and felt a sudden flash of pain through her back as she fell forward in the now open room. Her illusion broken, the two Raptor's Talon gasped as they saw her falling forward, and followed her in the room, followed by the rapidly materializing outline of Aiya.

"That was bad luck...they were firing at them, but they missed and got you instead." Aiya said. Sabrina nodded despite the pain, before suddenly loosing all traces of the world around her, as it vanished from her sight replaced by utter nothingness.

____________________________

"Saffron is under attack. Even as organized as your trainers are now, you can't help there. And I don't know if they'll have the time to finish evacuating Vermilion before the attack start there." Lance told Ash and Gary as the two.

"We can go help there. If we leave now, we can help them with trying to hold Vermilion long enough to pull out." Ash replied, feeling confident.

"We shouldn't send everyone, though. How does a hundred trainer for the relief force strikes you?" Gary suggested. "That's not too many, and it's still six hundred pokemon, a sizeable fighting force." He explained. "Not to mention that that way we'll be able to pick only those with fast flying pokemon, so you can get there faster." He added, and Ash nodded.

"You're right." He said as he started planning their move to Vermilion. "I'll lead that group." He added.

"All right then. I'll stay behind and take care of everyone else." Gary nodded.

They were all gathered in the room in the league headquarters, along with Lance, Lorelei, Elayne, the mysterious Kyle Stery, Misty, Damian and Giovanni who had made the trip from Viridian to try to give them a hand.

"The Lotus might run in some trouble in Saffron. I sent two of my ex-Rocket to cause them some trouble, and I'm sure Sabrina is going to have a few idea of her own about slowing them down." He pointed out as they kept planning. "Any news about possible allies?" he asked Lance.

"Karen told me she'd try to find a way to help, but with Claire speaking against us every chance she get, and all the influence she has with the league council, I'm not sure Johto will be able to do much for us. Orange refused to help directly in the fighting, but offered to take care of all the civilians refugees we can evacuate there. I'm still trying to get through to Hosho, as we could seriously use their help." He explained.

"That's true." Lorelei nodded. "The Hoshoans don't have that big of an army, but it's superior technology-wise to anything anyone can field, except maybe the Feldars and the Alerian, and they are on the other side of the world."

"And busy with a war of their own, with Tevas and Manawa causing trouble." Lance added.

"Though Manawa's half-openly supporting the Lotus, so maybe we can convince them to give us a hand by shutting down the main safe haven of the Crimson Lotus, but changes in the situation on Amara won't have much of an effect here." Giovanni pointed out. Ash listened confusedly. He knew Amara, on the other side of the world was, along with Serland, to the west of Johto, Farissa to the south of Serland, Sanara, south of Amara and Aucea, the great southern island and it's may , one of the major continents of the world, just like Aysaka, their home continent. But when it came to the political situations of those countries, he was completely lost, barely even knowing that Feldaranne and Aler were generaly acknowledged as two of the greatest world powers.

"We need to get the Hoshoan to help, that's certain." Lorelei pointed out again.

"And we need to convince Claire to get a clue so that Karen can send us some help. I think I have just the people we need for that." Giovanni grinned.

They continued to talk, planning for a long while before the session concluded, and Ash walked out to go recruit those trainers who would be going with him to Vermilion, were the trainers would face their first battle.

As confident as he had been talking to his father and planning with Gary, he had no doubt most of them wouldn't make it.

_______________________

Slowly opening her eyes to the light that streamed in the room, Sabrina felt a piercing pain in her side, remembering the bullet that had struck her from behind. She looked at Aiya and the two Raptor's Talon, seeing that the blue-haired man and Aiya were still trying to help her while the red-hair was slowly entering the codes that would release the water. One day, she though despite the pain, she would have to ask Giovanni how he had gotten the codes.

"I see you decided to stay with us a while longer." Aiya said, her tone half-sarcastic. Looking around, Sabrina noticed that the door had been closed.

"You really thought I was going to let you down?" Sabrina replied through clenched teeth.

"All right. Now that she's awake again, do you care to explain why you two are here, and why exactly you're masquerading as Raptor's Talon?" Aiya asked the two of them.

"What?" They both said at once, seeming outraged by the comment.

"Oh, don't play innocents with me. I remember when you raided my brother's gym two years ago or so." She told them. "I want to know what two Rocket agents are doing pretending to be Raptor's Talon." She glared a them.

"Who said we were pretending?" The girl answered.

"I'm afraid you'll have to ask the boss about it." the man shrugged. 

"Team Rocket bosses? Those who escaped from prison? Or is there someone else? Or maybe you mean Giovanni?" Aiya asked suspiciously. The two Rockets looked at each other.

"The real Rocket boss never was in prison , though he disbanded Team Rocket, and Giovanni's the one you want to ask answers from." The girl replied. "And the Elite Four knows all about it, so don't bother them with that." She added, looking suspiciously at the ninja woman.

"Anyway, if you don't mind too much, that's not exactly why any of us is here." The man pointed out, pressing enter on the control keyboard in which his partner had already entered the information that would open the flood gates of the dam at their full opening.

As the screeching sound of the flood gates being opened was heard even in the sheltered room, they all knew that they had to get out quickly, Sabrina most of all, as she had studied the maps more than once, and knew that after an hour or so the gatehouse would be flooded as well as the tunnel. 

"How do we get out? They're waiting for us outside..." Aiya pointed out.

"There's an emergency door back behind you. It won't open from the outside but from the inside it can be opened at any time by anyone. It lead to a concealed stairway that will take us to the top..."

"And the helicopters." Aiya nodded, finishing the thought. They quickly climbed up the stair, the two Rockets carrying Sabrina between them, as her wound was starting to get worse. 

Soon, they had reached the top, were Aiya's team of ninja was waiting for them. One was dead, but the others were apparently all right. Feeling herself becoming weaker and weaker, Sabrina watched everything as if it was in a haze. As she felt the helicopter lifting from the top, she also felt herself falling to the floor of the cabin, unable to stay up any longer.

__________________________

May looked at the city of Saffron, which her troops had just managed to take, though at an high price. She had not expected the ennemy trap with the underpass, and a good few hundreds of her best soldiers had died in there.

Now that she had Saffron and Cerulean in her grasp, it was time to go back and clean all the villages and forests between the two towns of pokemon, at least as far as the more fanatical members were concerned. Of course, to her, such an operation had a much more practical reason, which was to secure their conquests and make sure there would be no counterattack from behind.

She gave the orders, still looking at the city from the top of the undamaged Silph tower, her hand resting on the helicopter that had just dropped her there. 

"General Oak? You have a message." An aide came and told her, though it was not Eric. She would have preferred it had the aide been Eric, but he was busy leading the clean-up of all remnants of the enemy presence in the city.

She took her personal radio, and answered. 

"General Oak." She said, identifying herself to whoever was talking with her.

"General, I am most pleased with your success so far." The voice of the grandmaster indeed sounded pleased. "You are definitely showing yourself worthy of the trust we put in you. Can we expect more conquests soon?" the question came.

"I don't know yet. It depend on how much time it takes to clean the land we control to avoid resistance." She answered.

"Try to avoid killing. We don't want to make the population too angry at us." The man suggested. 

"Of course." She replied shortly.

__________________________

Melanie looked at her refuge for one last time. With Lotus troops sweeping the nearby woods as they had been doing for the last few days, she had no choice but to run now, abandon the small mountain valley in which she had worked so hard for so long. Turning toward the Venomoth who had replaced Bulbasaur as the protector of the refuge, she gave him a few quick orders.

"The others trust you Venomoth. You lead them toward the moutains and then to Pewter."

"Moth." The pokemon nodded. Melanie 

The bug nodded, and headed out followed by the other pokemon. Melanie went back to preparing the traps she was setting for the Lotus troops that were sweeping the woods, troops that were almost certain to find clues to the existence of the refuge. 

As soon as the last trap was set, she left to, following her pokemon on the roads that led to the southern Moon Mountains and beyond them to Pewter and Viridian - and safety.

Behind her, the sound of screams were heard, and she could only guess a small group of Lotus soldiers had fallen for one of her traps. The noise of the sweeping troops grew louder, an helicopter passing overhead once, barely giving her the time to dodge under an evergreen before they could see her. She shuddered, knowing she would need luck to avoid the sweeping.

____________________

"You've picked up everyone who's going?" Lance asked Ash as the young man watched his father intently.

"Yeah." Ash nodded simply. They were near Ash's new room, in the official house of the president of Kanto.

"There's one thing. Tell them to go to the Headquarter tomorrow morning. We'll have something for them." Lance told him, causing Ash to turn to look at him, feeling a deep curiosity within him.

"Alright. Why?" he said cautiously.

"Just a little device we need to give them. It lets them carry as many pokemon as they want with them at once - well, not that much, but around fifteen or so pokemon, instead of the usual six." Lance explained. "You won't need one, though, I think." He added.

"Why?" Ash asked in surprise.

"When you went to the shrine, did you get a sword?" Lance asked, and Ash wondered why he was changing the subject like that.

"Yeah..." Ash replied slowly.

"That sword was a probably kind of early pokeball...back then, the people would simply alter objects they would normally use to make them in pokeball. It allowed them to carry their pokemon with them without being obvious about it. Most swords were altered to include that. Just play with it a little, I'm sure you'll find how to trigger it." Lance answered his son. "And it can probably hold more pokemon than the devices we'll give to the rest of the trainer." He finished, and left, leaving Ash to ponder what he had said- and go to his room to check.

Holding the sword close to him, he could easily feel the small loose part near the handle, that looked suspiciously like a trigger. Pressing it caused a sparks of red energy, similar to that of a normal pokeball, to run along the length of the blade, turning in a beam as the blade ended, shooting right ahead. Calling out Celes, he had no difficulties calling her back in the blade, then out of it again. Calling in Esper as well, he found out that naming the right pokemon was enough to get the one he wanted to appear. 

Smiling, he tied the scabbard of the blade to his belt, sliding the slender, deadly sword back in it, after calling out all his pokemon, explaining them about the sword, and calling them back. Even though he had no idea how to use the sword to catch a new pokemon, he would still have six pokeball empty and available for just that, while his sword would let him keep the rest of his team safely with him, and give him a certain surprise advantage.

Chapter 24 : City of Remorse

"Remind me exactly why we're here again?" The brown-haired woman turned toward her friend, who sighed inwardly as she heard the same words, yet again.

"We're here because your little sister kept complaining about life on Shamuti being "boring" and you decided to give in and take her off the island for a few weeks. You decided to go with her because you didn't trust her to be alone yet. And you asked me to tag along so as to have company, not to mention someone who knew the region, even if only a little bit." She answered, pushing her green hair out of the way.

"And now we're in the middle of a war." Carol completed. Marin sighed again as this was about the twentieth time or so that they had the exact same discussion. 

Of course, coming to visit Kanto had not seemed like that bad of an idea to Marin when Carol had mentioned she was giving in and taking Melody there after the festival of the legend - a festival that didn't mean much now that the legendary prophecy was fulfilled, of course. Melody, apparently, had gotten a taste for adventure during the events in which they had both played a role back in the Islands, along with Ash and his friends. Consequently, the never changing life on the small island of Shamuti, bound by traditions and ceremonies, had seemed boring, dull to the young woman.

"Talking about your sister, where is she?" Marin suddenly asked her friend.

"How would I know? She apparently got the hang of evading me in that town, so I lost track of her a long while ago. As long as she gets back to the ship to get some sleep every night..." Carol shook her head.

"You aren't the least bit worried about her?" Marin was surprised, considering how she had insisted Melody was not old enough to go on vacations alone, at an age where, on the mainland and in most of Orange, kids left their house at twelve or so on pokemon journey. Melody was sixteen, on the mainland she should have been old enough not to care about her parents at all anymore.

"Of course I'm worried. But have you tried to keep track of her?" Carol objected. "She's too fast, and she managed to get the hang of this town before us." She explained.

"I guess I see what you mean." Marin admitted, looking at her friend. In her normal Shamutan dress, she definitely did not fit in with most of the population of the seaport of Vermilion.

Suddenly, a swarm of tiny black points appeared to the south-west, over the large body of water that was the bay of Vermilion. 

"Jets?" Carol said, looking curiously at them as they came slowly closer.

"I don't think so...let me check..." Karen answered, picking up the binoculars she was always travelling with.

She spent some time trying to adjust the lenses to get the better view of the flying objects, recognizing as she did so the familiar beating motions of the wings of birds.

"No, these are bird pokemon. And I'd say they have trainer on top of them." She told her friend, trying to get a better view. There were trainers there, all right. 

"What are you looking at?" A youthful voice asked from behind them. Marin turned to face Carol's sister, Melody. Where Carol did not fit in with the people of Vermilion, Melody certainly did, looking for all the world like any other teenage girl. 

"Where have you been?" Carol replied, looking at her sister with a look that was definitely anger in her eyes.

"Here and there." Melody replied, an amused grin on her face, and Marin had to work hard to avoid laughing. Carol knew, or at least should have known she would never get an answer to a question asked like that, yet for some odd reason she had asked it all the same. A waste of time was the only term that Marin could find to describe what her friend had just done. 

"What are you looking at, anyway?" Melody insisted.

"That flock of bird pokemon over there." Marin replied, turning to see that they were much closer. Apparently, they were flying faster than she had first assumed. Looking in the binoculars again, she saw that there were most definitely trainers sitting on the pokemon as they came toward the city. Refugees from the war, perhaps, or else trainers who had decided to fight instead of running away.

___________________________

Ash watched the hundred or so flying pokemon behind him with a certain sense of pride, his head turned as he trusted Deathwing to take him where he needed to go, without trouble. Celes flew side by side with them, carrying Misty, while shortly behind, Richie flew on his Charizard, Zippo and Damian on Gary's pideot, which they had borrowed. The shore was already within sighting distance, as it had been for the better part of an hour now.

The four days journey in the sky had gone well, without any battle, skirmish or other marring their road, and with as little time as possible lost on halts and night stops. Of course, he still had managed to make sure everyone was in good shape and ready to fight once they reached Vermilion, but still, he had tried to make it to the town as fast as possible.

"Misty, take the others down there, Richie, you come with me, we'll take a look up north to see how far the Lotus troops have come." He rapidly yelled over the sound of the rushing wind that sent his hair flying behind him, feeling again the exhilaration of flight as the powerful muscles of Deathwing clawed at the sky, carrying the two of them. There was a subtle change of movement in the powerful wings of the great dragon, and Ash soon found himself flying lower than the others, in a different direction, amazed by the sheer power of the pokemon that flew.He had wondered for a long time why it was that flying pokemon were able to do so much with their wings, now seeing the muscles that moved them in action, he could easily understand why a blow from one's wings would be severely damaging.

"Any idea what we're looking for?" Richie asked him, flying by his side. 

"Not yet." Ash replied, glancing at his friend. There was a kind of defensive shield around Richie now, as if he was afraid of something, and Ash knew without knowing - a feeling deep inside him - that it was related to him. "What's wrong?" He asked his friend?

"I don't know...nightmares, mostly. Scary ones...they seem so...real..." his friend shuddered, and Ash looked at him closely. "I don't really want to talk about it now Ash." He added.

"Later maybe?" Ash said, worried about his friend. Even though his friendship with Gary had taken the first place in his life, Richie still counted as far as Ash was concerned, still was a great friend. 

"Maybe..." Richie did not answer further, instead pointing to below them, were Ash noticed that they were crossing the shoreline. "I'll ask again. What should we look for?" he said, and though Ash knew very well that this was mostly an attempt at changing what they were talking about, he decided to go along, for now. Maybe later Richie would be ready to talk about it. Hopefully, he would.

They continued flying side by side in an uneasy silence, a truce between the questions that Ash burned to ask and the answer Richie was not ready to give. The two Charizard continued clawing at the sky with their powerful wings, as they looked around for any sign of Lotus activity, finding none so far. At one point, Ash located a group of running creatures he thought might be Lotus soldiers, but on closer inspection found out it was simply a group of pokemon running through the forest.

"Hey Ash!" Richie suddenly said, his finger pointing at two tiny points in the sky, two points that were just too far to really identify. Two points that were getting closer quite fast, however. Within a moment, he could easily identify them as a pair of airplanes, and a moment later, from their shape, as Lotus planes. They were a kind that the League did not really use, hence there was no mistaking them.

"I think that's what we were looking for..." Richie stated.

"Not really, their planes don't tell us how far south their troops got..." Ash objected.

"You got a point there." Richie admitted quickly, and there was some regret in his voice, as if he had been trying to prove himself something and had failed. "But what do we do about them?" he then asked, looking as the planes came closer. They had certainly been sighed by then and there would be no evading them, now with the superior speed the planes had.

"Think you can deal with one of them?" He asked his friend, already forming up a plan to dispatch the other, calling upon the power of Tairan that rested within his soul.

"Yeah, I have an idea." Richie replied, concentrating. "Steely! I choose you!" He yelled, calling out a pokemon, a steel-covered Skarmory. "Steely, use your steel wing attack on the gas tank of that plane!" he ordered, and they both watched as the pokemon came close to the plane, opening a gap to the gas tank.

In the meantime, Ash did not say idle, calling upon Tairan's powers to freeze the wings of the plane in place, making it heavier by the second. Soon, it was starting on a downward path, unable to move back up as the flaps were frozen in place by the beam of pure ice that had come out of Ash's hand. Ash watched, trying to keep all emotions at bay as he saw the airplane crashing down below. Of course, this was war, but the fact remained he had just killed a human being for the first time, and somehow, the simple act made him feel less of a human, more as if he was a mindless beast. He shuddered a little at the thought, then turned back to watching Richie, wondering what his friend was up to, trying to think anything but the fact that he had just killed a human being, perhaps more. 

"Are you just going to wait until they run out of gas?" he asked his friend, watching him suspiciously.

"No. What kind of pokemon am I flying on Ash?" he asked back, pointing at the burning tail of his Charizard, as Ash gasped, realizing what Richie was planning.

"Uh...I think I'll go stand a short distance away...a few miles..." he said cautiously, nudging Deathwing to fly away, even though he mostly meant what he had said as a joke.

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing." Richie replied. "I'm not suicidal. Zippo, Fire blast." He added, watching as the roaring wave of fire left the mouth of his dragon, flying past the returning Skarmory who was almost back to them already, and striking the plane that was still quite a distance away. The air around the metallic machine burst into flame as a devastating explosion shattered the war machine.

Richie stared at the burning remnants that fell toward the ground, and Ash watched him as he moved closer to the side, retching.

"That's...man, how...how are you...doing ...it?" Richie stared at Ash. "How...how can you...take it...that... calmly?" his face what white.

"I'm just trying to keep it inside...not to think about it..." Ash continued looking worriedly at his friend. He seemed to be taking his first kill even harder than Ash himself took his own. 

"I think we'd better go back now..." He said, watching Richie's empty eyes and his pale face.

"Yeah...I...I think it'd be...better..." The voice came in a hoarse whisper, as the horror seemed to come back after a brief pause.

As they flew back toward Vermilion, Ash thought about the war, wondering how many of the young trainers who had volunteered would fall just because they could not take their first kill, and would fall to it instead. There had to be something to do to make it easier, but he had no idea what.

_____________________

"I know that face." Misty watched the young woman standing near the docks, by a ship. There were two other woman behind her, and one of them Misty could definitely recognize. She raced toward them.

"Marin!" she yelled, causing the green-haired ship captain to turn toward her. She looked at her for a long while, as if trying to remember who she was.

"I'm...sorry...do we know each other?" She asked finally, still looking at Misty who smiled a little, realizing that in the two year since they had last met, she had definitely changed a lot.

"Yes. My name's Misty Waterflower. Maybe you remember it?" she smiled, and watched as the older woman seemed to concentrate, as if she was trying hard to remember.

"You took me and two of my friend in your ship in a cruise in the orange Island two years ago, but during a storm we landed on Shamuti island." She added, watching the woman's eyes shining with recognition as she finished.

"You're that girl?" Marin gasped. "It's great to meet you again! You sure changed!" A big grin split her face. 

"Do you admit it now?" A mocking voice came from behind her, and she turned to face the brown-haired young woman she was sure she knew. Looking at her, Misty suddenly gasped, realizing who it was.

"Melody?" She looked at the young woman, about her own age, in surprise.

"That's my name." She smiled. "Now, do you admit it?" she insisted again.

"Admit what?" Misty answered, though she had a very good idea what it was.

"That you love him." She replied. There was, of course, no doubt who "him" was. Misty smiled. 

"Of course, why would I do otherwise?" she smiled back, watching the surprise in her eyes. She obviously had not expected the answer, and Misty felt a short moment of pride at having surprised the ever-so-slightly annoying girl.

They continued talking for a while, remembering what they had all gone through together, and talking about why they all were there now. Then, as Ash arrived, Misty quickly raced toward him. He didn't seem well, that was for sure, as if something extremely painful had happened. Richie, on the other hand was pale, as if he had seen a vision of horror he did not want to hear about again.

"What's wrong Ash?" she asked him softly.

"I...we ran in lotus planes...I destroyed one...killed the people inside...." He was shuddering as she wrapped her arms around him, holding him close to her, whispering soothing words, wondering if she would be able to live with the pain of having the blood of another human on her hands.

"It's...I can't describe it...the feeling that I'm so...dirty...now..." he continued to shudder in her arms, while Misty watched him helplessly, holding him closely. From the corner of her eyes, she caught sight of Damian helping Richie back up.

Her only wishes were that they would come to term with what they had done...and that she would never have to do so.

____________________________

"We've started evacuating the town quite a while ago..." Surge reported, his face bleak as he watched a report. Ash half listened, trying to think up more ways to pull back without causing too much casualties on either side. There had been many skirmish in the two days since the arrival of the trainers' relief force, and none of those who had killed took it much better than Ash or Richie, except perhaps those who had lost loved ones in Saffron or Cerulean. 

Surge had suggested that they try to think of it as a matter of self-defense, kill or be killed, but while that made it slightly easier - enough so that most trainers had no more problem with it, to Ash it was not enough. The only way that allowed him to actually fight without too many remorse was to think of that they allegedly did to pokemon they caught. That prevented in from falling to guilt as he brought down more Lotus troops, the same guilt that had almost destroyed him after that first battle. 

"We'll be done evacuating very soon...maybe you should pull your trainers off?" He suggested and Ash snapped back to the present situation.

"I think so...we'll have to go by sea, though. Most of our pokemon are completely spent, especially the flying ones, and the pokemon center is down..." Ash pointed out. "I'll give orders for the bulk of our forces to get on the next liners, along with the other trainers that joined since we arrived." Ash smiled. Since they had arrived, they had lost twelve or so trainers in battle, a high price, but on the other hand, they had gained fifty or so new trainers from the refugees and citizens of Vermilion. "We'll stay here a bit longer, though." He added, thinking it up. "The leaders, I mean." He explained.

"If you want." Surge shrugged.

___________________________

A day had passed, and the fighting in the outskirts of the cities had grown weaker as they fell, the troops withdrawing to the harbor, ready to evacuate. Most ships were already fully loaded, or would be, once the troops were inside. Fortunately, and thanks to Misty, there would be no need for Ash or his friends to kicks soldiers off their ships, which was something he just wouldn't have done.

"Why are you sill here?" Ash asked Marin as he walked onboard her ship, were his companions were already waiting.

"Misty asked us to wait and give you a lift out. After what you did two years ago, I decided we owed you that much." Marin replied simply. "You just so happened to save the world."

"I'll remind you I helped!" Melody corrected from her place near the bow of the ship. Surge ran along the pier, toward his own ship, a sleek boat much similar to the one Marin herself was using, which was in turn similar to the one Carol, Melody's sister had once owned, before Melody had wrecked it in the Shamuti Island, during their mad dash to save the world.

"Watch out on your way out! Koga just managed to get through with a radio message, they spotted a battleship off Fuchsia a few days ago. Might be around here now!" He shouted as Marin powered up the engines of her ship.

"Is everyone onboard?" she asked, and got a nod from Ash, as Surge walked away toward his ship.

"We're ready." He nodded, feeling happy to get away from Vermilion and the dark memories the town now held, that of the blood on his hands.

The ship suddenly roared to life, bounding forward toward the open sea that stood outside the harbor, and freedom behind, as Ash relaxed. Even though he hated the feel of killing, he had to admit, this first mission had gone rather well, though he wouldn't complain about returning to Indigo and his father.

Chapter 25 : City of Illusions

Far, far away from the chaos of the war that threatened to drown the land of Kanto in blood and death, the sun shone brightly over a single crater, a crater that stood alone by the side of a great lake. If one was to look at the crater from above, one would see a lush forest inside, surrounding a lake, a lake that itself turned in a river, a river than ran underground, cascading down the rocky flanks of the natural walls toward the great lake outside.

In the middle of the smaller lake, a single point was that could not in any way be mistaken for a natural location. There was no way to tell what it was, only that the hand of man had crafted it, long ago perhaps, as it seemed long since abandoned.

Abandoned by humans, at least. If one was to peek at it at night, one would sometime see strange, eeries lights coming from the objects, a bluish glow that could only mean one thing, that a being inside was unleashing tremendous amounts of psychic powers.

And such a thought, such a suspicion would have been the absolute truth, the being in question reflected, looking at the strange tube at the back of the room he stood in, inside the abandoned, crashed remnants of an airplane. A smaller being, this one female, was there as well, watching closely, her blue eyes worried as she glanced at both the strange tube that held a human being, and at the other being, the inhabitant of the place.

"Are you sure this will work?" the female being sent the thought out of her mind.

"I don't know." The second being answered, admitting to himself that despite all of his futile pretense at confidence, he was equally worried. The last attempt done by anyone at what he was trying had ultimately failed, and broken his own heart, and he did not know if he could take the same thing happening again.

"I hope you know what you're doing. I risked a lot retrieving those for you. Not to mention warping is extremely tiring." She pointed out.

"I know all that, auntie" he used the name she hated so much, though it was a name that made sense in a certain way. She considered herself the sister of the one he considered as a mother.

"I thought I had asked you not to call me that." She pointed out.

"Yes, you did. But I don't see why I shouldn't mention it." he replied, concentrating still on the machines in front of him. There was no room for mistake, especially knowing how costly a mistake would be, both to him, and to their plans in general.

"Have you thought up a name for her?" she asked him suddenly, her eyes focused on the tube just as well, watching the flickering light within.

"Not yet...calling her her original name just doesn't seem right...she..." He sighed. "She's not the same. We changed her." He admitted, something he had been trying not to think too much about it, there was no way that the human that would soon appear would be the same as the human that had meant so much to him. No way that this would ever be.

"You're right." She nodded. "A similar name, then?" she suggested.

"Maybe...though that's not what we did for her "brother"..." he objected, their mind still meeting in endless conversation that no normal being could comprehend, could even realize was taking place.

"We picked at random for her brother. Not exactly the best way." She objected, a strange glitter in her eyes.

"I suppose you are right. Still, is her name that important? I mean, a name is just a sound that other use when they want to talk to you...it has nothing to do with what's inside her...and what's inside is what really counts, because that's from where our actions comes." 

"There you go, philosophy again." A grin, made strange by the shape of her head, appeared.

"Please, don't go there." He replied. 

"All right..." her mental voice was soft once again. "What about Aimée for a name? Not too far from the original name, and there's a meaning to it, too..." she told him.

"What is it?" He asked curiously, not recognizing the words from any of the language he understood.

"In a tongue that the humans use...it means loved one." She smiled. He felt something he had not felt for a long time coming up his throat, as the corner of his eyes became ever so slightly humid.

[i]What is...?A...a...tear?...It's been...so...long...[/i] the thought ran through his mind as he brushed aside the tear, feeling one more welling up in each eye..

"That's definitely a good name." He agreed, trying to keep his emotions hidden.

_____________________________________

Water splashed on the deck as the [i]Legend[/i] sped forward, but the falling drops of waters certainly did not bother any of those who sat in the back of the ship. Marin was driving, of course, as she was the expert sailor, though they all knew Melody could probably give her a good challenge when it came to skill. However, at that specific time, she was too busy talking with Ash and Misty, remembering how the three of them had saved the world, working together.

"Well, we didn't exactly do it alone." Misty pointed out. "Slowking, Lugia and Tracey did help. And I didn't do THAT much..." she looked fondly at Ash. "He did most of it." 

Ash blushed, not having expected Misty to say that, and he brought his left arm around her shoulders, bringing her close to him and holding her very tightly.

"Team Rocket helped a lot, too." He pointed out. "They were even ready to die to save the world." He remembered the event, the feeling of disbelief as the three villains had let go off Lugia's leg, condemning themselves to a fall that would, under most circumstances have cost them their live. He had never learned how they had survived that, had never heard from them about that after it had happened. Still, whenever he thought about all the evil they had done, the memory of the two of them jumping off, shouting a final variation of their traditional "Team Rocket blasting off again!" came as well, reminding him that no one could be absolutely evil, and that deep inside, the three of them had a good heart.

"You never told me much about that." Misty pointed out. Ash was about to answer when Marin shouted, calling them all, and making them look ahead...

Straight at the dark, huge shape of a Crimson Lotus battleship heading in their general direction.

"That's not good." Damian, who had been silent until then, pointed out.

"Obviously." Kyle Stery remarked, standing in his seat still.

"Guys, instead on trying to decide whether or not it's obvious, why don't we try to come up with a solution?" Richie suggested, his eyes locked on the dark shape.

"That would be a good idea, wouldn't it?" Damian agreed, but before Kyle tried to point out again it was obvious, Richie signaled him to shut up.

"Let me drive." Melody told Marin. "You might be better at safe sailing, but that's not what we need here. We need someone who's good at risky sailing." She explained, and Ash watched as Marin reluctantly nodded.

"Can't your pokemon help?" She asked them, watching the situation, her eyes on the same dark shape they were all watching.

There was a sound like a thunderclap, and the end of the cannons of the ship were made brighter for a moment. Melody desperately turned the control wheel to the left, and the ship barely dodged the first shot, as Melody took a deadly turn to the right to help make the next shot less accurate.

"I don't think so!" Ash yelled, his hand gripping the railing of the ship tightly, afraid that he might fall off during one of Melody dangerous maneuver. He locked his eyes on the battleship, trying to come up with a way to defeat it. Electric attacks would do no good here, considering the size involved and the defense system the ship was likely to have. Similarly, even an explosion similar to the one Richie had provoked to get rid of the enemy plane a few days before would not be enough.

"Hang on back there!" Melody yelled, as the ship made a shart turn to starboard, narrowly dodging another blast, yet being hit by some shards that resulted from the explosion, lightly damaging the ship. The ship turned tightly to port, avoiding the next blast, though only narrowly, but the one after that came very close to hitting, again damaging the ships through hot shards.

"We're not going to hold out long at that rhythm!" Marin yelled, and Ash shuddered, knowing that she meant the ship was not designed to withstand the beating it was taking from the enemy guns.

Suddenly, the battleship seemed to rear, as a horse would do, a long slender twister appearing underneath it. The twister moved slightly, and soon the mighty battleship was being tossed in the sky as if it was a mere toy of little consequence, falling back in the sea near the [i]Legend[/i], causing a wave to strike the small ship as the enormous war vessel broke apart, both parts of it slowly vanishing in the sea that had claimed them. 

It had taken barely more than a few seconds, it seemed like a lifetime. Ash stared, mouth wide open, at the spot in the sea where the ship had been, barely a few second ago. He saw something drifting in the wind, a feather-shaped object. A hand struck out from the [i]Legend[/i], a arm covered in black leather, catching it. The feather was white, yet black at the same time, the color going from a gathering of all colors to the total absence of color in the space of moments as the feather shimmered under the early winter sun.

"Was...was that what I think it was?" Melody gasped, obviously refering to the same whirlpool Ash had though the had recognized as well.

"I...think so..." he answered, hesitant.

"So far from Shamuti?" She questioned, her eyes wide.

"Do you know any other reason?" Misty answered, her eyes just as wide with awe.

The mysterious intervention had to have come from Lugia, as hard to believe as it was. In all the world, they knew of only one creature with such power, and they could not, would not believe tales of another such.

"I think we have a problem..." Marin said suddenly, her voice bleak. A few second after, a wave crashed on the damaged little ship, nearly causing it to capsize. They all hung out for dear life, trying desperately to survive as the vessel was thrown off course. 

______________________

Ash opened his eyes, trying not to be bothered too much by the harsh glare of the sun. He looked around, half panicked, wondering where the weather had landed them, and if they all were safe. He could see he was still inside the ship, which was lucky, even luckier being that he was nearly dry, meaning that for the most part he had managed to avoid falling in the water, and that his cloak had managed to shrug off the rest.

Misty was, luckily, near him, nearly as dry, waking up even as he turned to look at her. She rubbed her head slightly, and Ash deduced she had hit it on a railing during the storm.

"Are you all right dear?" she asked, as he looked around for the others. They all seemed to have managed to stay on board, and Ash turned toward her, smiling as he brought her close to him. 

"I'm fine." He told her, letting their lips meet for a brief moment, before turning toward the others, who seemed to be surprisingly fine, considering the ship had been tossed off, shaken, and covered in water more than once. 

"Any idea where we are?" Richie asked, and Ash looked at his surrounding. This was not Porta Vista, that he knew, but he had no idea where they were, at least not as first.

Suddenly, Misty pointed something at him, a nearby cliff dominated by a small temple...a shrine, perhaps. And one that looked awfully familiar, far too familiar.

"Maiden's Peak. We're back in Maiden's Peak." He finally said, and Misty nodded, agreeing with him.

"What's this place?" Richie asked, his voice filled with wonder.

"Maiden's Peak. It's a village, near here. Ash, Brock and I stopped her once, a bit over three years ago. It was a...marking visit.

"That's where I really started noticing you, too. I didn't realize it back then, but now that I think of it..." Ash smiled at his girlfriend, fondly remembering the memories of the festival. Misty turned back and smiled at him.

They walked toward the town, soon reaching it, rushing toward the local pokemon center to heal their wounded and tired pokemon. Strangely ,the town had not yet been evacuated. 

"That's not good...the Lotus army will probably start sweeping this way soon..."

"And we have no troops worth the name to fight back here." Richie added.

Ash thought about the situation, trying to come up with a plan, a way to buy everyone the time to flee from the town. 

"We don't really need troops...as long as the Lotus thinks we have a huge army here, does it really matter if we really have it?" He wondered out loud.

"No, of course...if we can scare them off long enough to get out, it's alright." Richie nodded thoughtfully. "The trick is making sure they do not realize what we are up to." He pointed out. "I don't think straw soldiers will work."

"I wasn't thinking about that. Misty, do you know what I'm thinking about?" he turned toward his girlfriend, looking at her.

"I'd rather say, WHO you are thinking about." She pointed out quickly, then looked toward the cliff. "We might manage to convince him to help...if we're lucky..." she hesitated.

"If not, Fenrir and Esper can convince him not to bug us." Ash concluded, and Misty nodded as they set off toward the cliff.

________________________

It was nearly nightfall when Ash and Misty reached the top of the cliff, and in the descending darkness, they could see the light of the Lotus army camp to the north. They would soon be there, and there was no time to loose.

"Gastly, we know you're here." Ash said sternly, trying to convince himself that there was nothing to be afraid off.

"Yeah ,come out now..." Misty said, her voice hesitant, as Ash squeezed her hand, trying to give both of them the strength they needed to finish what they had decided to do.

" You are looking for me, maybe?" the voice was behind them, and Ash whirled, sword in hand in an instant.

The Gastly, surprisingly, was there, and was not trying to pull out a trick on them.

"Why are you here?" he asked in his voice.

"Because your help is needed. To defend the town." Ash replied slowly, hoping to convince the Gastly to do it.

"And why would that convince me to do anything? I don't care about humans, except as a source of mental energy." The ghost replied, though Ash was not really sure he meant it.

"Because I ask you, too." The voice sounded hollow, yet beautiful. Ash whirled again, to face the sight of a woman made of gray mist floating toward them. The maiden, the real ghost of Maiden's Peak. He had thought her a legend, and he opened his mouth wide in a stunned look as he realized he had been wrong. "If they destroy the town, or the spirit of the town at least, then I will vanish forever. You must help me, as you did so often in the past." She pleaded. The eyes of the Gastly seemed to change, as he stared at the specter.

"I...all right, I will do it." He accepted. "What do you want me to do?" he asked Ash and Misty, turning toward them.

"It's simple...all you have to do is create an illusion, and hold it up long enough for the people of the city to escape, so that we all can come back once the enemy is defeated. Can you do it?" He asked.

"I think so, yes."

_____________________________

Ash watched as the last group of refugees left Maiden's Peak late the next night, while the army of illusion still guarded the town, holding the Lotus forces at bay. Suddenly, Richie ran up to him.

"There's a small group of Lotus soldiers coming this way!" He yelled, and Ash followed him back to the edge of the town, wanting to know what was up.

There was indeed a small group of soldiers, led by a woman, nearly a girl in white uniform, coming toward them. Besides him, Gastly seemed to tire under the strain of maintaining the powerful illusions that defended the town.

Suddenly, Gastly gasped, watching the group.

"That girl...she's seeing through the illusions!" he told them, and they all turned to look at the woman as she raised her hand ,sending forth a beam of psychic energy, her eyes glowing with fire. The beam struck out, screeching toward the undefended ghost pokemon, striking him down. The illusions vanished, and Ash thanked whatever power there were that they had managed to evacuate everyone in time.

A second psychic beam struck out, but this time was met in mid flight by a freezing spear of ice thrown forth from Ash's hand, as he glared at the approaching Lotus officer. She looked familiar, he was sure of that as he watched his friend go, calling upon all his power to hold the enemy at bay. There was no large army out there yet, apparently, the woman had come simply to check on the supposed army they had, and had rapidly found the weakness.

Before she could send out another psychic beam out, he called forth another spear of ice, freezing her into place, if only for a brief moment, buying himself the time to call Celes out to fly him away. He glanced at the Gastly. The creature had been frozen in solid state, and knocked out by the powerful beam of energy, and would certainly not be able to flee or escape, he realized as he climbed on the back of his bird pokemon. 

As Celes took flight, Ash hesitated, weighting the inherent evil of the Gastly against the fact that if the creature was left here, he would soon die, in an atrocious way. 

Reluctantly, he took a pokeball from his belt and threw it with a deadly aim, as it struck the Gastly dead center, causing it to be absorbed by the pokeball, which then flew back with ease to Ash's outstretched hand. 

As Celes flew away, toward the mountains were his friends were, and Fuchsia behind, where they were all headed, he held his new pokeball, wondering still if he had done the right choice by capturing the Gastly.


	6. Part 6 : The Raging Storm

Part 6 : The Raging Storm

Chapter 26 : City of Freedom

Her dark coat glistening under the light of the moon and her burning mane, her hooves beating the ground in impatience, the newborn Rapidash, already most powerful than most adults, watched her mistress. She neighed once, as her mistress watched her back, reaching with the timid hand that had touched the creature for the first time only two days before.

Her mistress, too, was newborn, yet to all effect she looked like a girl who had lived many years in the world, nearly an adult already. Newborn as she was, the gifts that changed her, made her more - or was it less? - than human let her see the flow of time, her Rapidash even changing as slowly, too slowly, her life was drained away. Song, her rapidash, would not die for a long time, of course, but even now she could feel her life going away with each passing second.

"Every step in life take us closer to death." She whispered softly. "It's the ultimate consequence of being born."

Everywhere, she could see the passing flow of time, an endless ocean with waves beating away at the strongest rocks, threatening to bring them down, knowing that though it would last long, one day even the mightiest mountains would be reduced to worthless pebble by its destroying hand.

Pushing her blue-green hair off her face, Aimée sighed, a deep, sad sigh. 

"What has you worried Song?" She asked softly, her eyes locked with that of her pokemon, a caring hand on the head of the female Rapidash. Unlike her brother, she had not been gifted with mind-reading, or any other such ability, or with astounding psychic powers that could harm with a single thought. Instead, she had been gifted with the other side of the balance. Nature and healing ,as well as time, had been what had been added to her, when she had been made.

The rapidash sighed, or at least it looked like a sigh to her, a long, sorrowful sigh as she turned her sad eyes toward the lights of the lotus army camp to the north. The Lotus, a name that had been taught to Aimée while she slept, before her strange birth. A name she had been taught to hate, yet just couldn't bring herself to despite enough.

"Time already do enough damage by itself...why do we feel the need to add to it with such stupid things as hatred and war?" her question was left unanswered, Song's eyes telling her that she knew no more answer than her mistress did.

"You wonder the same, don't you?" She asked the young yet old rapidash, her eyes watching the pain in that of the pokemon, a pain she knew was mirrored in her own eyes. The pain of knowing you were apart from the world, not really a part of it. The one who had made them had tried to reassure them, to get them to think it was what they did, now who they were or how they came to be that mattered, but it simply was not enough.

She looked at her hand, a hand she knew would look perfectly human to anyone, yet a hand she knew belonged to someone not really human. A hand that could make forests grow, and heal wounds with a single thought of her mind.

A hand that was not even unique, as there has been such a hand, perfectly identical, before. Just like there had been another one like her before, just like there was still another one like her brother, in basic physical characteristics at least.

It was not something easy to live with, and she imagined it had to be harder for her "brother", not only having to know that his mirror image was somewhere in the world breathing, while hers was long dead, but in her "brother"'s case, also forced to work at the side of that one being they had been made after.

Song looked at her, big eyes that seemed to mean "nothing's ever easy, and you two have a lot to do. For all pokemon and all humans of the world." 

Aimée nodded, trying to forget the dark thoughts that had invaded her mind, thoughts of deserved death and undeserved life - hers.

_____________________

"Remind me again why we're going east instead of south-east?" Damian asked grumply as he tried to walk on the uneven mountainous ground of the Fuchsian range.

"Because the Safari Zone is east, not south-east, and I think we'd all feel bad if the Lotus slaughtered all the pokemon in there." Ash felt drained, tired of repeating the same few words over and over again, whenever someone in their little group started thinking they should simply have headed for Fuchsia, instead of taking the long walk through little used mountain paths.

"And why aren't we flying?" Damian pointed out sourly.

"Because the Lotus got planes in the vicinity. It's possible they'll miss a small group walking on rough mountainous ground, but I don't think for a second they'd miss us in the sky." Ash replied, 

"He's got you there, as much as I hate to admit it." Tanya said. She was walking slightly ahead of them, her Umbreon walking side by side with her.

Ash sighed, wondering why he had gotten the stupid idea of going to check on the old pokemon reserve rather than making a straight move toward Fuchsia and a place from which they could run from.

"Chances are, by the time we get to Fuchsia, they'll have the city." Damian's voice was still sour as they continued walking.

"Koga isn't inept. He's probably the deadliest opponent they have faced so far, with his ninja squads...Maybe they have the numbers, but the numbers don't give you that much in a war where you can't even find the opponent..."

"I wouldn't be that sure..." Damian muttered under his breath, then walked away.

Ash signed, turning away to look at the rest of their small group, fifteen or so trainers. Elayne, Damian, Misty, Richie, Tanya and Kyle were there, as well as a few trainers who had joined them at Maiden's peak, none of them very skilled, yet a welcome addition to the team by virtues of number, as well as two or three refugees, people who lived in the wild lands east of Maiden's Peak and had joined them on their trek to the east then to the south.

Of course, Ash was very suspicious of one of the so-called refugees, as she was all-too-familiar to be anyone but Melody, and he suspected Misty knew as well. Neither of them moved against their friend or even confronted her with the truth, as it would be pointless, not to mention that even pokemon-less the young woman was extremely resourceful, with her knowledge of the sea and thus of weather, combined with various other things she knew about that had come to the light since she had joined them.

They had been on the road toward the Safari Zone for five days, five long days in the cold weather of the Fuchsian mountains. On a few occasions, there had even been snow, though only in little amounts.

"The High pass isn't too far...we should get there by the end of the day." Elayne pointed out, looking at the map they had been using for the past few days, taking her bearing on the obvious landmark, such as the obvious massive mount Kanshi in the distance, which combined with her compass, allowed her to get a current idea of their current location, and of the distance until they reached their destination.

"And once we're there, it will only be a matter of a few more hours tomorrow to get to Safari Zone, then a few hours to see about making it a bit safer, and after that we're on our way to Fuchsia." Misty added, peering at the map over Elayne's shoulder.

"Good. It's not like moving around in these mountains is the most interesting thing to do in the world." Damian said sourly, and Ash wondered slightly what had gotten the young man so annoyed and so easy to anger. 

Instead of answering, something he knew now was waste of time, Ash simply looked around, having to disagree with Damian entirely. The scenery was superb, tall mountains everywhere, on one side sloping down gently toward the Valley of Vermilion and then rising again with the Saffron Highlands, on the other just as gently sloping down toward the sea, with the great jungls of the Fuschia area sparkling like a chest full of emeralds. Here and there, crystal-clear rivers ran, like streams of sapphire in the emerald bed of the jungles.

Somewhere out there, between two monstrous peaks, among the tallest of the Fuchsian range, thought nowhere near mount Kanshi, stood the protected valley that was widely known as the Safari Zone, though its proper name was the Meiling vale. There were only two ways in the vale, one through a small, little-used branch of the high pass, and through a narrow entrance to the south, between the two mountains. The rest of the vale was surrounded by tall cliffs, and hard to access even though aerial means, due to the heavily forested terrain.

Ash kept trying to come up with the best ways to defend the vale against Lotus attacks, wondering if they would manage.

____________________________

As Misty had predicted, barely a day later they were at the sparkling lake that was the source of the Meiling River, a lake that was also home to something rare beyond measure, something that was known to exist in only one other location through the whole Aysaka : a colony of Dratini. It was, of course, something that was mostly kept hidden, as trainers would swarm the area if they knew, but Ash had learned of it during his previous visit to the Safari zone, fighting against time and Team Rocket to save the dratini.

Now, he was back, and again out to fight to protect the little dragon pokemon, though this time the threat was far darker, not only capture and training by Team Rocket, but rather, an atrocious death at the hand of the worst enemy any of them had ever met. He watched around, catching sight though barely of a dratini jumping out of the water, in the middle of the lake.

Suddenly, there was a sound of crashing hooves behind them, hooves rapidly beating the ground, and a group of Rapidash appeared, a rider on the led one, all others simply following, along with a herd of Tauros and quite a few other pokemon. The rider was a woman, there was no doubt about that as she came closer, her blue hair held back by a light orange headband, clothed in a pale green shirt and pants.

"Stop!" She yelled to the herd she was leading, glaring suspiciously at their group. "Who are you, and what are y'all doin' here?" She asked.

"We could ask the same of you!" Ash replied, his eyes just as suspicious then watched as the Rapidash the girl rode on approached to him, a strange look in her eyes. Without thinking about it, Ash extended his arm to touch the raised head, only realizing too late that the mane of the rapidash would harm him as the creature certainly did not trust him, not yet anyway.

But it was too late to withdraw his hand as he moved it, too late to withdraw it without feeling pain anyway, as his hand was already in the fire. Ash suddenly withdrew it, but not in pain, in surprise, as there was in fact no pain. He reached toward the Rapidash, touching the top of her head in the middle of the flame, without pain.

Even the only other rapidash he had ever met had not trusted him at first sight, and they were in a situation were thrust was much easier to come by back then. There was no way to explain why the Rapidash now trusted him at first sight...

Unless there weren't two, but one Rapidash, unless the one from back then and the one he had in front of him were one and the same.

"Why won't rapidash burn you?" she asked, her eyes suspicious, her heavily accented voice vaguely reminding Ash of someone, and that remembrance only strengthened his newborn suspicious. "Y'couldn't gain her trust in a few seconds like that..."

"Lara? Lara Laramie?" He asked, finally remembering the name of the trainer he suspected he now faced.

"How'd y'know my name?" She answered, her blue eyes still hard as stone as she maintained her suspicious look focused toward him.

"Not far from three years ago." Ash answered, smiling. "That guy with the dodrio had hired Team Rocket to sabotage that big race to win, and had managed to get your arm broken. I replaced you in the race, and won, thanks to your ponyta evolving at the end." He told her, and her eyes came alight with recognition.

"I thought y'looked familiar, but I wasn't sure! You sure changed a lot in three years." She was now smiling, apparently accepting Ash's words, or perhaps the fact that her Rapidash trusted him.

"Well, I guess I did grow up...I was twelve back then, I'm fifteen now..." Ash replied. "You're going to Fuchsia?" He asked her, and her eyes grew somber.

"I was...though, now...could I ask y'all to do somethin' for me?" she asked, her eyes pleading.

"Depend what..." Ash answered, wondering what it was.

"Can y'take these down to Fuschia or some safe spot?" she asked. "My family an' my friends asked me t'do it when they decided t'stay behind to defend our place..." there was a single tear in the corner of her eyes. "I waited t'see if any of them managed to get out, but it looks like they all got caught...or killed." Ash winced at the words, knowing more people he knew, even if only a little, were now dead or else captured.

"But...why do you want to get us to do it?" he asked, dreading that he already knew the answer.

"I wanna pay these Lotus guys back for it." She answered simply. "I don' care if they kill or capture me, I jus' want to pay'em back." Her eyes were sad and fierce, both at once, sadness for lost family, fierceness at the thought of what she would do. 

Ash looked at her. A few weeks ago, before the war, he'd have tried to convince her to do otherwise. Only, now, he knew better, knew that trying to stop her from following the path she had chosen to walk was useless. He could offer her to fight with them, in the trainer forces, but it was obvious that she wanted her revenge there and then.

"We'll do it." he finally nodded, and Lara dismounted, whispering a few words to her rapidash who neighed sadly, then moved closer to Ash, turning to face the other pokemon, telling them in the language that only Ash understood of what was happening, and though there were a few horrified cry of protests, he could feel the determination in the herd to continue on, following him. Ash himself turned toward the other rapidash, talking to them quickly, asking them to trust his friends, to let them ride.

"Oh, jus' to let y'know, I had my herd block off the back door to the zone, so that nobody can get in by there - least, no army." Lara said, then waved and left.

"I guess we should try to get to the other entrance of Safari Zone as soon as we can..." Ash said sadly as he watched her leaving, hoping that she would not be killed, yet at the same time hoping she would be spared the torture of being captured. For a brief moment, he wondered which was worst, then shrugged it off.

They slowly mounted, a few of them yelling in pain as the pokemon burned them, but soon enough being able to mount without the pain, trust established by the soothing words of the pokemon who lead the herd and set off, riding in a group south toward the second way in the zone.

______________________________

The shot came without warning, of course, and Ash stopped, trying to take cover from whoever had fired at them as the Rapidash reared, her hooves clawing at empty air. The area of the Safari Zone they were walking through was just too tree-covered for them to even ride, so they walked at the side of their pokemon, waiting only to get out to step back on them and ride as fast as they could down south toward Fuchsia.

Jumping in the thick bushes, Ash watched the rest of them doing the same as a man came out from a small track in the jungle, wearing a ranger suit and carrying a rifle. He held the weapon ready to fire, and Ash felt like hitting his head on a tree for forgetting about the trigger-happy warden.

"Stop firing!" He yelled, and the warden turned suspiciously toward him. 

"Why the hell should I?" he asked, his eyes hard as he looked toward Ash, his gun ready to fire right at Ash's head. The young man shivered a little at the thought of the effect such a shot was likely to have on him, if the warden pressed on the trigger.

"We're only passing through, nothing else..." Ash replied. "And trying to protect the zone from the Crimson Lotus..." he added.

"Mppphhhh. Them bastards." The warden said gruffly. "Now that's people I'd really like to shoot a damn lot. But...there's something telling me not to kill you, that you're nice but I don't get it."

"Maybe you're just remembering that time he went in the lake and saved all those dratini from that bomb?" Misty suggested, half-fearfully coming up behind him.

"That was you kid?" He looked at Ash closer. "That's damn right. It really was you." He nodded after looking at him closer. "I remember that pikachu of yours. So you're out to keep those damn bastards out of my valley, uh?" Ash nodded once, his hand resting lightly on his Rapidash - Sora, he had learned her name was in the hours they had been travelling in the zone -, holding her steady. "All right, you and your friends just get the hell out of here, I'll take care of blocking the south door behind you. I'll stay here to kick the butt of any of those damn lotus if they manage to get in here."

With the warden accompanying them, they soon reached the southern entrance of the Safari Zone, where they waved goodbye to the Warden.

"Good luck!" Ash yelled as they left.

"Bah. The hell if I need luck to kick the ass of those damn bastards. I don't need your luck, keep it for you."

Once they left Safari Zone, the rest of the trek down south was uneventful, and they reached Fuchsia, still safely held by Koga and his troops, five days after leaving the warden and Lara. There, it was no problem to get on a ship that took them to the Seafoam Islands, out of range of the Lotus Army, where the troops and the gym leaders of eastern Kanto had all gathered.

It was time to seriously plan their next step, and to plan it right.

Chapter 27 : City of Flames

The rocky lands to the south-east of Pewter, in the Moon Mountains was not a pleasant place to be. Yet, a squadron of the best troop the city could gather was there, scouting out the area, in case Lotus troops tried to sneak that way, as impossible as it seemed considering how hard moving an army in there would be.

There was shouting in the forest to the east, the forest that was near Celadon. Lotus troops, on one of their raid through the forest to catch wild pokemon and hiding trainers. More shouting came, closer this time, definitely Lotus troops.

"We'd better think about pulling back!" Brock told the group..

"Shouldn't we check it out? From what I can make out of these voice, it's not just a simple clean-up operation. Looks like they're hunting someone." Suzie countered, behind him. She had of course tagged along.

Brock stood there, weighing the positive and negative sides of staying and going, trying to decide which was better. On the one hand, he could elect to stay, and wait to see if Suzie was right. And in doing so, he would risk his troops, needlessly probably.

On the other hand, he could go away, lead the troops to safety...and if Suzie was right, probably condemn whoever the Lotus forces were hunting in the forest to capture, or worse, death.

"Let's pull back a little and hide...that way maybe we'll be able to help whoever it is they are hunting if you're right Suzie." He finally decided, leading his troops back to a small ravine where they could keep away from sight easily.

Hidden in the ravine next to Suzie, his left arm wrapped around her shoulders, he waited for the Lotus troops to come, something which, judging from the voices in the forest, wouldn't take time. In the other hand, a pistol he barely even really knew how to use was ready, while he also just waited for the time to be right to throw Steelix on the battlefield.

A young woman appeared from the edge of the forest, running toward the mountains, keeping close to the chasm that marked the Celadon River. Brock watched, ready for action, knowing all the soldiers around him were tensing, ready to fight.

The Lotus troops weren't too far behind, appearing soon hot on the heels of the running woman, and Brock stared, hesitating. The way she was running, the woman would pass too far away from them for them to be able to do anything. On the other hand, if they signaled her, they would loose the surprise effect, and probably any hope of winning the fight when the Lotus troops caught up to them.

The Lotus soldiers fired, their guns coming close to hitting the young woman once, twice. And then, a bullet struck, and the young woman collapsed, falling in the chasm beside her.

_________________________

Brock woke up with a start, rising in the bed, trying to remember where he was, which certainly was not his house in Pewter. Careful not to wake up Suzie, whose head was resting barely a few centimeters away from where his own had been, he looked around, and remembered. 

He was in a cave near Celadon, where he had been for the last week, ever since what had happened in the mountain, when Melanie - he had only found out it was her later - had been killed. At that point, he had decided to gather a small group of trainers from Ash and Gary's troops and go in Lotus-controlled territory, to try to free prisoners and generally hamper Lotus operations the best they could.

"Is there something wrong dear?" Suzie asked sleepily, her eyes slowly opening to look at him.

"No, nothing." He smiled, letting his hand rest on her shoulder. She smiled back, her eyes seemingly filled with stars. Even though they were in the middle of a war, and in constant danger of their hideout being located, there was still no denying that the recent events had pushed forward their relationship. They had been more or less going out together for nearly a year, but it was only in the last few weeks that things had really started taking a serious turn between the two of them.

Forcing his mind away from thinking about the young woman he held close to him, he tried to think about the situation instead - a situation that was far from good. All the towns east of the Moon Mountains had fallen, with the possible exception of Fuchsia. The jungle city was too far away, and the military communications, both of the league's and the Lotus', were too unclear to really shed light on the situation.

Pushing aside his worried, he decided to wait for the morning before taking care of them, falling back asleep, his arms holding Suzie close to him, as her arms held him just as close.

_________________________

"Excuse me sir, but why did you send General Starkhad here?" May asked, still not sure she was understanding right.

"Simply to ensure that we have the troops to strike two target at once." The grand master replied. "Or rather, the leaders to do so." The grand master explained.

"You think I can't handle what need to be done? Having two commanders on the frontline strikes me as a little risky..." May answered, feeling more than a little frustrated.

"I'm sorry General Oak, but I believe General Starkhad deserves a chance to show us what he can do while commanding an attacking army. He'll be in charge of taking Cinnabar."

The screen went blank, and May stared, closing her fist tightly in anger. There was no need to send Starkhad here, not while her plans were going so well. The fool was so jealous of her, he was likely to blunder and try to impress everyone just for the sake of scoring a few points in an imaginary contest between the two of them only he perceived.

With one last glance at the empty screen, she stormed off the communication room of the _Bloodsword_, trying to find a way to get rid of the bad feeling she head about Starkhad coming to take command.

________________________

The massive form of the island of Cinnabar, a huge volcano standing in the middle of the sea, stood ahead of the task force as General Ethan Starkhad looked through the binoculars, trying to find signs of enemy defenses.

The bridge of the battleship _Obliterator_ was calm around him, with no one even whispering a word, all crew members concentrating on their own business with as little noise as possible. They all remembered what Starkhad had done to the last man who had made the mistake of drawing Starkhad's attention with unnecessary noises. 

Which was good, as that was exactly the point of the little object lesson he had sought to give them. Of course, loosing a crew member had created a certain stir about the ship, but this way, it ensured that there would be no problem with further distraction from crew members.

Turning his attention from the island to the ship around his own, he tried to see if there were any changes he needed to do to his plan, but knowing how pitiful the defenders were, he would have no problem striking out and taking the island, especially with the might of the army he would throw at end, nearly half the lotus forces gathered to strike.

"Begin the landings." He ordered, and watched as the transports began to let their troops loose on the island, not finding much in the way of resistance, but unaware of the two pair of eyes that watched from the top of the volcano.

________________________

Blaine watched those landings as well, from the top of the volcano. He could see that there were still lots of forces to land, before he put his plan in action. He waited.

_______________________

Three hundred miles away from Cinnabar, a few supposedly abandoned islands were bustling with activities, troops of Saffron, Cerulean, Celadon, Vermilion, Fuchsia, and even the few survivors of the small Lavender militia going around, ready for battle, as well as the Trainer relief force that had fought at Vermilion.

Ash turned his eyes from the gathered army to the gathered gym leaders in the small room with him. Sabrina was there, recovering from the wounds she had received at Saffron, still a bit weak though nearly back to full health. Daisy was there as while, her sister near her, both of them trying not to think too much about what possibly could have happened to Lily.

Near another window, Erica, who was turning day by day to have more of an innate gift for tactics was conversing with the lieutenant Surge about their next move, Koga close to them, apparently minding his own business.

"I guess we should try to slip behind them to Pallet while they're busy with Cinnabar." Ash suggested, getting nods from both Erica and Surge.

"That's what we were about to suggest." Erica nodded, her eyes approving.

"Exactly. Lance is likely to need all the troops he can get once the Lotus get in the city." Surge added

"What about Blaine?" Daisy asked, obviously reluctant to abandon another gym leader to the Lotus.

"He'll be all right. The old fox got more than a trick up his sleeve. Don't worry about him." Surge shrugged. "We'd better hurry though. Before they get back at us..."

Soon, the troops were getting in the transports which were waiting for them, and heading north-west at full speed, toward Pallet and the last stand of the League.

_______________________________

Staring again at the communication screen, May watched her rival as he looked at her, a smile on his lips - one she did not like at all.

"General Oak. I'm sure you will be pleased to learn that the operation so far is a total success. The landings will soon be over, and our enemies are such cowards that we have yet to encounter any opposition." He gloated, a smirk on his face. 

"No opposition?" She asked, not happy about that at all, knowing that it just was not like the league to hide and refuse to fight.

"Not at all. Obviously our enemies are too afraid to fight back." He seemed to actually believe the words, and May wondered how he could be such a fool.

"I wouldn't say so...it's probably a trap." She tensed, a feeling of horrible dread settling in her, and she suddenly knew that a terrible price would have to be paid if Starkhad was not stopped. 

"Of course. The great General Oak want to be the only one with credits, so she tries to stop me." He shrugged her comment aside, as she watched the screen, feeling panic welling up in her.

"Listen. You have to pull back. It's...I just know if you don't, we'll pay a terrible price." She told him, trying not to stumble on the words as she hurried to get her message through.

"You KNOW that, do you? Would that mean you are in league with them?" His voice was filled with barely concealed hatred.

"No, it means I have some common sense and you don't. And more important, I know the enemy, and they aren't cowards. If they aren't fighting, there's a trap waiting for us."

" Yes, yes. Of course, the brilliant general would know that. You're too perfect to be wrong..." Starkhad let it hanging, and May sighed in frustration, knowing there was no way to get through his pride. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have another message, from the island." His voice was cold as the screen went blank.

________________________________

Watching the landings from the summit of the Cinnabar volcano, Blaine could see that the landings were over, with more Lotus troops than he had ever dared to hope for gathered on the island. He turned toward the charizard that waited at his side.

"Blazier, takes these pokeball to my grand daughter. Ok?" He asked the beast, handling him the balls holding all his pokemon, then watching as the great dragon sadly nodded and took flight, carried away from the island by powerful wings. 

"Goodbye Blazier. You served me well." He said as he watched.

When the beast was far enough, he turned, noticing in passing a few dark lines on the water to the north, ships slipping past the Lotus fleet, going toward Pallet town. He drew a radio from his pocket, and aimed it toward the Lotus fleet, managing with ease to slip in the command code to make the call he was sending a priority call that the Lotus commander would receive immediately.

"What is it?" The voice of the commander said. "Are you the leader of that island trying to surrender?" the man sounded sure of himself.

"I am the leader of the island, but not out to surrender, I want to ask you a riddle, and I suggest you listen."

"I have no time for games." The man answered, but before he could cut the communication, Blaine was telling the riddle he had crafted.

"Mouth of fire, Body of Stone,

For eons I sleep,

Should I wake, fear my rage,

It will surely take your life,

Though by it I feed the world. " He said, playing with the little pencil-like object he had drawn from his pocket.

"I don't see what's your point." The man said angrily.

"Then, let me show you." He answered, pressing the button at the end of the object.

All around the volcano, the hidden charges exploded, the charges he had placed just where they would create enough of a shock in the volcano to trigger an unparalleled volcanic explosion.

____________________________

Ethan Starkhad watched aghast as fire took all the troops on the island within moments, as the once-tall Cinnabar crumbled in the sea, taking those few soldiers who had not been killed in the disaster in the depths with it.

Oak had been right, as unbelievable as it seemed. Though of course, she had not known she was right, it was obvious she had simply been trying to get him to back down so that the glory of taking Cinnabar would be hers. 

He turned to look at the crew of the warship, only to find a pistol aimed at his head, in the hand of a man wearing the uniform on an inquisitor.

"I am afraid I have to take you in custody General Starkhad. What happened here demand investigation, especially since you ignored the warnings of General Oak." The man told him, and Starkhad felt rage building up within himself, even as he followed the inquisitor, who turned toward the crew.

"Report to General Oak at once. You are under her command again." He told them simply, leading Starkhad away as the crew sighed in relief.

Chapter 28 : Eye of the Storm

The headquarters of the Indigo league were bustling with activity. The Gym Leaders, all of them save Lily, and of course Blaine, were gathered inside, for the first time since the beginning of the Lotus crisis. As he pushed open the door to the meeting room were most of them already were.

Sabrina was resting near one of the window of the room, still ever so slightly weakened by her injury, but now almost completely back to full strength. At the main table, Lance sat, deep in conversation with a small, black-haired man Ash did not know and Karen Strife. Apparently, she had finally managed to convince the league to send the needed reinforcements. Misty and her two sisters were also at the table, just keeping close, apparently trying to be strong together in face of the loss of Lily.

Surge was deep in conversation with Erica, Koga and Flint, while Giovanni was talking to the two black-clothed guards who had come with him - two guards who seemed all too familiar to Ash, though in the new clothes he found it hard to believe that it could be them. 

A young woman Ash did not know entered the room, followed by the rest of the Elite four. The young woman had long brown hair, and her blue eyes seemed like she had wept much recently. Her long dress was a fiery red, somehow reminiscent of a burning flame.

"This is Evelyn, Blaine's granddaughter - and his only living kin." Lorelei informed them, and Ash felt a sharp pang of pain as he looked at the girl, reminded of the time after his mother had died, when he had for a short while felt so alone, without any family. Of course, now he had found his father again, and even at the darkest moment, Danea had been there, but still it was painful.

The young woman gazed at everyone, then they all took their seats, ready to start planning.

"All right. We have a lot to talk about. The situation is rather..." Lance started.

"Bad would seem to fit well. Disastrous also kind of leap to mind. Same goes for apocalyptic...I could think of others with some time." Flint muttered.

" No need for pessimism." Koga whispered softly.

"I'm not pessimistic. I'm realist." Flint continued to mutter.

"Please gentlemen, we have enough trouble with the Crimson Lotus without you two adding to it by behaving like that...we need to be optimistic if we want to have a chance..." Lance called them to order, keeping his voice calm. "We have a choice to make now. They'll strike again soon. Blaine managed to buy us some time..." He said then turned to look at Evelyn who was wiping a tear away from her eye.

"I'm sorry Evelyn..." Lance was obviously uneasy with the situation, knowing that he had just reminded the young woman of her loss.

"It's nothing Lance...Please go on..." Evelyn answered, obviously doing her best to keep her voice steady.

"Well...as I was saying, we gained some time, but they'll strike again soon - Probably a two-side attack against Pewter and Pallet. We can pull back, or we can defend these towns and Viridian..." Lance continued to explain the situation, his eyes intent on the map in front of him.

"I say we pull back and make our stand here in Indigo..." Karen offered, her eyes locked on the map.

"When do you think the attack on these towns will begin?" The dark-haired man asked, his voice heavily accented.

"I do not know ambassador." Lance answered, then seemed to realized he had not yet introduced the man to the rest of the comitee. "This is Ambassador Toru Noshiro, of the Hoshan Senate." He explained, as everyone in the room nodded. Ash wondered if the presence of the man in their planning sessions meant the Hoshoan were willing to help them in the war.

"I'd say a week, ambassador." Surge answered the former question, looking at the maps. Especially after the lesson Blaine gave them at Cinnabar.

"Our troops need more time than that to be here." The ambassador answered, his eyes concentrating. "I believe, in fact, that we need more time than you can give us, even pulling back here." He explained. "The best you can do is fight a stand and hope we can get some troops in place in time."

"I think so too..." Surge agreed.

"We should do as Karin suggested." Bruno said, his voice a deep rumble.

Giovanni rose, his face apparently angry, a deadly glare in his eyes, his hand resting on the gray chair.

"No." His voice was icy, like a wind blowing from the northernmost reaches of the world. "They took Cerulean - and we fled." He sounded disgusted, as if he could not take the way the league had fought so far. "They smashed Lavender -and we pulled back. They crushed Saffron, Celadon, Vermillion and Fushcia - 

and we ran away. Enough. The line must be drawn here." He sounded more determined than Ash had ever heard, as if he was resolute to go and stop the Lotus armies alone if he had to.

"I agree with Giovanni." Sabrina's voice was barely above a whisper, but it might as well have been a triumphant shout. Of all the gym leaders present, she was the only one who had truly fought against the Lotus armies, and by that she had won a great deal of respect.

One by one, the gym leaders nodded, first those who, like Giovanni, were tired of running away, those who had lost much, like Misty, Violet, Daisy and Evelyn. Erica nodded, at the same time as Surge, both of them apparently thinking that it just would not be tactically sound to keep on running away. Koga nodded soon after, though why Ash could not fathom, perhaps simply because he could see the way the tide was turning and thought that going against things would be a waste of time.

Then, they went down to planning the defenses of the three towns, trying to decide which forces would fight better were, how to best defend each area, to slow down the advancing army at least so that there were chances the Hoshoan arrived in time, slim as even what chances they might be able to give would be.

Daisy and Violet would be at Mount Moon with their water pokemon and their troops, fighting a sabotage tactic, as their troops were those that knew the terrain best outside the mountain. They had fought there on their way back, at least some of them, and the others at least had some minimal knowledge of the region that would be useful. In addition, there would be no real naval battling in the rest of the war, so there would be no use for what they were best at.

Flint of course would stand guard with his troops in Pewter, their hometown, which they could defend better than anyone, using their superior knowledge of the terrain and their skills in mountain fighting to protect the city. They would be helped by the troops led by Evelyn, the men and women of Cinnabar using their ambush tactic at their best in the rocky, forest area around Mount Moon.

Koga's troop, and especially the hundred warriors of the Shinobi elite, would act as their scouts and snipers, as well as assassin, to take out enemy leaders. If they could only manage to take out a few soldiers, not many, only a few, there was the chance that it might swing the tides of battle their way. The rest of them would fight in Viridian Forest, best at home in a place where they could use stealth to their advantage in battle.

Further south, the best tacticians of their combined army would hold Pallet, which they all easily admitted was the weak point of their defense plan. But hopefully, the presence of the Celadon, Vermilion and Saffron troops would be enough to turn the tide. The troops of Celadon were not the best fighters by themselves, and would probably not do much, but Erica was a great leader and a skilled tactician, her presence would help the fighting. The Vermilion troopers were quite the opposite, veteran of the fighting at Vermilion, they had for the most part all intensive training and formed the best infantry force of the whole league. As for the Saffron troop, while they did not have the intensive training, they had all fought at Saffron, then again at Vermilion, making them just as deadly as the troops of Vermilion.

North of them, between Viridian and Pallet, the trainer army would way, taking advantage of the diverse landscape, in a land of valleys, cliffs, rivers, streams, narrow passages and forest, one where they could all find the best place for their pokemon to fight. Ash and Gary had suggested that it would be best for them to fight there, they both knew, at least Ash did, that otherwise their ability to fight would be severely hampered, would it be by fighting with fire pokemon in viridian forest, or attempting to use ground pokemon and their earthquake attack in the middle of a city.

Lance, Karen and Giovanni would hold Viridian proper, as a last stronghold of the league, one that they all hoped would stand until the Hoshoan could arrive to clear the board and win the game

No matter how much he tried to believe they could do it, that with the courage of their troops they would be able to hold out long enough, Ash could not bring himself to do it.

________________________

May sighed in frustration as the officer left her office, leaving a crumpled piece of paper as the only trace of the report he had been sent to bring her. Of course, the report was rather displeasing – not that many new would be pleasing in the situation, aside from the grand master somehow finding a new army to replace the one Starkahd had lost or some such.

"Something the matter May?" Eric asked from where he was standing, in the shadow not far from her desk.

"Yes. No. I don't know. If only that fool Starkhad…" She let it hanging, wondering again what had possessed the grand master to give a chance to fight on the front line to the over-eager general. "What do you think of the current situation?" She asked him, her eyes suddenly looking deep in his.

"I honestly don't know what to think of it." The young colonel answered finally, his voice and thought confirming his words to the mind's eye that May possessed. "With what happened at Cinnabar, I would say we need to wait before striking again. On the other hand, with the reports about possible reinforcements coming…I don't know May. We need to strike before they get their reinforcements, but we need to wait until our troops are ready…it's a fine line to walk." He moved closer to her and she signaled him to stop, a simple gesture of her hand. As much as she loved him, she was not in the mood for affection as it was. She had a problem to solve, and it certainly wouldn't be solved by kisses and caress..

Terrorists strikes had badly damaged most of the roads in the territory they controlled, the work of a strange group that was always one step ahead of her troops, narrowly escaping from each hide-out in turn, barely avoiding capture. With that in mind, it would be impossible to concentrate troops enough to attack only on a single front, she would have to divide her forces for the assault, forcing the opponent to divide their own forces as well, or run the risk of being overrun. It was not a military situation that she liked, but there were no other choices, none that she could perceive anyway.

"We'll have to attack now, from both sides. I know our troops need to rest, but them getting reinforcements is something we can't risk. Pewter from Cerulean, and Pallet from Vermilion, that's where we'll attack. Give the orders to get the troops in their transports." She finally ordered, then hesitated, her heart and her mind waging a dark inner war that tore her apart. Her mind told her that she needed a man she trusted in charge of the northern attack, a man that she did not need to keep a constant eye on to ensure the success of the mission. But there was only one such man, only one whom she would trust with her life, and her heart whispered to her that she would die without him.

Realizing that the assault could not even begin before the week was out, she decided there would be time yet in the future to make the choice, to decide to follow her heart or mind. In the meantime, now that the decisions were made, she definitely needed to feel safe and secure. To put aside the genius tactician, the fearless leader, the hero of the Lotus, and to remember that underneath all that she was still a young woman, barely an adult, and that sometime, just sometime she wondered what she was even doing leading an army in a war.

____________________________

Shadows were hidden in the corners of the ancient base in the mountains north of Indigo and west of Pewter. Shadows of a once-glorious past, ruined by ambition, treachery, deceit and the lure of power, the promise of a future some had chosen. The tall shapes still stood in the great hangar, waiting only for the day where they would be used again, floating in the sky. The metallic envelope were still intact, with the cabins under them still clean and ready. A simple check was enough to ensure that the propellers were still functional, ready to control the great airships rather than let the wind do so.

"What do you have so far?" Giovanni asked the group of his most trusted officers he had taken with him.

"They all seem ready to go." A young man answered, one of the few lower rank Rockets whom he had deemed worthy to shelter from justice when he had been forced to turn them all over to the League save a few. The young man pushed aside a stray dark-brown hair from his sun-tanned face, a certain light in his eyes, an enthusiasm for his task that Giovanni could only respect.

"Good job Mondo." He told him, then turned toward a nearby woman, who was trying to work on the sleek, deadly black vehicle that stood in the back of the hangar, comparable in size to the airships, but with speed and firepower so much higher that the two could not even be compared. She was ruthless, deadly, efficient, she would not hesitate to kill if asked to – but also, she was utterly loyal to him, a loyalty he had repaid by sheltering her when the team had been disbanded, and would never go out of her way to kill or any such, taking pleasure in doing what was needed to complete her missions, not in the killing itself.

"What about my ship Domino?" he asked her, and she looked up at him, her eyes filled with pride, the pride of someone doing a job, and doing it the best they could.

"It will soon be ready, sir." She answered quickly, not trying to embellish anything or to hide information, trying only to do her job at the best she could.

Turning again, he faced the two who had followed him here, the two who had turned from hopeless incompetent to actually deadly agent when they had finally abandoned their quest to capture pikachu and had stopped trying to fight for the darker cause of Team Rocket. Now, as they were, they had been useful in fighting against the traitors who had taken over Team Rocket, again and again, and had proven efficient in Saffron, intervening to trap the Lotus army and kill a good number of their troops.

"Well, you two have done a good job so far. Do you think you can handle this?"

"Of course boss." That was definitely a pleasant change, in a certain way, to no longer have them trying to lick his boot and rather obeying in a simple, efficient way. Time was always precious, the one thing they could not afford to loose, and bootlicking did just that, cause both him and them to loose time.

"Good Jessie. Felicity and Ralph will help you, of course, along with all the other remaining rockets. There aren't that many, but considering how automatic most of these are, you won't need more than one or two crew members in each. Domino is the only one who know how to pilot my personal airship, so she will have to be in charge of that, though you'll also be in it."

"Yes sir." The second one, James, replied, his voice confident rather than the old whiny voice Giovanni was so used to hearing. Again, it was a welcome change in his two underlings, to see them confident and ready for more battling rather than groveling, defeated, beaten.

Remembering something else he wished to discuss with one of the many officers present, he turned and called her to him. Of them all, Domino was the only one who knew about the many genetic engineering projects Team Rocket had been involved in.

"There's something I've been meaning to talk with you about for a while, but with all the Lotus things…" he started, eyeing her.

"What is it sir?" She stood, her own eyes alert, the look of someone who expected an attack at anytime, the look she always took.

"That Kyle Stery in the league tournament…What do you think of him, and his pokemon?" He asked, his voice too low to be heard by anyone but her.

"Too powerful to be honest – the pokemon, I mean. The young man, I have no opinion about." She answered, her voice like ice. "Someone's been toying with genetic engineering, and I'm not sure I like what it implies." Her eyes were dark, a darkness of unvoiced suspicions. "It remind me of the Mewtwo project, but as far as I know, we are the only two alive who know about it, and about how it was done." She seemed puzzled, wondering how the information of what the Fuji team had been working on had leaked out to other laboratories. "Puzzling. Very puzzling."

"Even more puzzling." Giovanni completed. "None of the company even remotely related to genetic engineering have been working on a project like that. So, who did it?" The question was on his lips as an answer, barely possible, though the only one he could see, came to his mind.

Chapter 29 : Tides of Darkness

The trainers had gathered in the hills and cliffs between the Moon mountains and the Silver mountains, ready to fight together at last. Looking at his friends, Ash tried his best to hide the worries he felt. What if one of them didn't make it, was killed in the battle? His friends meant a lot to him, loosing one would be like a stab in the chest, a pain that would never end. 

He looked at his friend, Gary in his brown cloak, his eyes seeming to have lost their once-hopeful look, like they had before lost the arrogance that had been there so long. The only time he had seen his friend so dark was after Duplica had died, until the passage of time had slowly erased the pain. Richie, looking even more pale and drained than before, as if something was eating him inside, destroying him, stealing his very life, his soul as he watched helplessly. He seemed tired, as if he feared to go to sleep, as if the night held secrets that kept him from ever resting.

Misty looked not too bad, a bit worried, but nothing much beyond that, aside from the fact that her eyes had lost their usual light to be replaced by a certain gloomy darkness, eyes too serious, far more serious than he had ever seen them. The war had stolen away their innocence, had made them realize that there was more to the world that pokemon training and games. They had been forced to become older, more mature, able to handle what now stood in their way.

Damian was the only one who looked unchanged, as if he did not realize the seriousness of the situation, though a single look at the young man was enough to see that the only reason he had not lost his innocence with the onset of war was because it had already been ruined in years past, years of mental torture. Elayne looked much the same as always, though again what cheerfulness there had once been in her face had been erased. Maybe one day it would return, perhaps, if they were lucky, the horrors of the war would grow dim as time would flow and they would forget, let the dark memories rest. Ash hoped so, as the weight of command rested on his shoulders, a burden that added years to his voice, his body.

"Is everyone in place?" Gary asked, though they all already knew the answer. 

"Yes." Richie answered, his voice sounding hollow, empty. As if he was dead inside, only a shell with no soul inside.

"I think I'll go fly around a little." Ash suddenly told them, deciding he needed to get away from the bustle for an hour or two, knowing they could handle thing while he tried to pretend that none of this was happening, that he was still as free as he had always been, not turned in what he had never sought to be by need.

"All right." Gary nodded, his eyes still locked on the map, probably trying to see if there was a way to improve their deployment, perhaps a single trainer which would fight better here than there, a single pokemon that would be deadlier to the west than to the east.

As Deathwing's powerful wings clawed at the sky, Ash tried hard not to think of how each single thing they did, each choice they made could influence most of the world, the fate of thousands.

___________________________

May looked at the fleet, the numerous powerful steel monsters that would lead the final assault upon Kanto, the final part of the first step of their crusade against pokemon users. Once Kanto had fallen, Johto would fall, then the Orange Islands, then the rest of the world, challenged by an ennemy they could not face.

None of their capital ships, battleships and carriers, would be directly involved in the assault, they were too precious to risk where they were not needed, too precious to let them be wasted in a battle that could be fought without them. The loss of the _Anhiliator_ to a mysterious force in the bay of Vermilion had been a harsh blow to the pride of the Lotus and to their power, and as long as they had no idea how the league had struck, risking the warships in a battle that was not theirs to fight would be foolish.

The only thing she did not like about the battle plan she had drawn was the way she had been forced to send Eric up north, to command the assault on Vermilion, leaving her without the comforting presence he had been. Feeling alone, as if power forever put her apart from everyone else. To everyone but Eric, she had been, no, she was the general, the one person that held their fate in her hand. No one saw the young woman there, alone and, somehow, afraid of the world even though the world was just as afraid of her.

Pushing aside the dark line of thought, she tried to concentrate on the matter at hand, on the assault on Pallet that would soon start, that had to succeed.

"Any news from General Nelson?" She asked, remembering that she had managed to get Eric promoted, though he was still not as highly ranked as her or Starkhad.

"He is ready to strike, with all his troops in position." The officer nearby answered, his eyes not even moving away from the control panel in front of him, his look that of someone eager to show his devotion, eager to please. It sickened her, to see that around her so many of them, a group of otherwise competent - more than competent - crewmen became fawning fools. But to them, she was the general, the hero, the legend who was leading them to victory, to what they all wanted.

Turning her eyes from the man to the tactical display that stood in the middle of the great command room, she watched as the frigates and transports of the Lotus navy came closer to the lightly defended shores of Pallet town. There certainly was a trap waiting, that much she could be sure off, but it was impossible even to her to guess what it was, or how deadly it would be. The only way to find out would be to strike, and hope it was nothing like what had happened at Cinnabar.

"Orders the troops to begin their landing, and General Nelson to launch his attack." 

____________________________

In the strange view of the world that he had, everything seemed to be shades of green, some brighter, nearly white, some darker, close to black. The lines of the Lotus warships appeared clearly, coming closer as the sun came closer to rising, the day to dawning.

The battle to beginning, as well. But his troops, the veteran that he had led in Vermilion and trained intensively for years before that, were ready.

"Is everyone ready?" He turned toward Erica and Sabrina, wanting one last time to verify that they were all set for battle.

"My troops are ready." Sabrina smiled, moving as if she had never been wounded.

"Mine are too, as well as the pokemon you convinced us to take with us." Erica nodded, her eyes locked on his, as she forgot to mention that while the idea to take along some electric pokemon had been both of theirs.

"Let's give them a shocking wake up call. Aim at the antenna and the like, that way we'll hit all their important electronic system." He ordered, and the two of them soon were relaying the order to all the soldiers.

He put down the infrared glasses, knowing that keeping them with what was coming would be nearly the same as suicide. Soon enough, a fiery volley of bright sparkling bolts left the shore, striking at the warships, fierce bolts that were aimed at the vital electronic systems, bolts that, if the plan succeeded, would make at least some of the vessels blind and deaf.

Watching, it was easy to determine that most of the warship would survive the maneuver, as the attacks were too powerful, had too poor aim. A better aim would mean a total lack of power, to have sufficient power to achieve the desired effect, they had to sacrifice the accuracy of their shots.

Still, it was not a wasted effort in any sense of the word, as more than one landing ship stopped dead in the water, unable to progress further, onboard systems destroyed by the fierce blasts of energy. Not only had quite a few landing ships been struck, but also a few frigates, the only naval support the Lotus had dared to bring near to the coast, had been struck as well. With these ships out of the way, the Lotus assault would be made weaker. Perhaps not enough, in itself, to ensure victory, that was for sure.

But maybe, with some luck, enough to slow down the lotus a few days more.

"All right, let's pull back a bit, and wait for the 'trode to do their job," He ordered, leading the troops away, knowing that under the beach, a number of Electrode waited to explode.

_______________________________

The sun that morning found the battle well engaged. At the northern limit of Pallet, the troops of the League were slowly inching their way back north, slowly drawing the Lotus army further from their ships, closer to the defenses of Viridian. They would take days to arrive there, of course, battling every step of the way, but these days, saved, would perhaps be all the time they needed to buy.

The trainers were not idle as the battle was engaged to the sought. Their Skarmory met the enemy planes in deadly combat in the sky, flanked by Charizard, Pidgeot and Fearow, fighting a slow, grudging battle, and giving no evidence of letting the Lotus gain any ground. Engulfed in flame, their system shut down by electric bolts, their wings caught in solid ice, the Lotus air force actually was fighting a loosing battle against the wrath of the elements.

On the ground, the roaring waves of flame of the Charizard were greatly appreciated, but perhaps the type of pokemon that were the most helpful were the flying bugs, Butterfree, Beedrill and Venomoth, letting loose streams of poisonous powder, or sometime instead their numbing stun spore, or perhaps even sending the opposition to the world of dreams with their sleep powder, provided a valuable asset in the battling.

Yet, it was not enough. Many of the Lotus troopers were equipped with the material needed to handle the spore attacks, and many of the bug pokemon, too slow to dodge, had been taken out in their first wave of attack by gunfire. 

Slowly, inexorably, the defense lines were pushed back, toward Viridian, toward the one place where they would fight their last stand.

Ash watched, praying for a miracle, hoping that they would have to fight as little as possible, knowing that many of them would die in the battle, and that the weight of their death would be on his shoulders, and his alone.

___________________________

The traps in Mount Moon had been effective, to say the least, slowing down the Lotus army to a crawl, but they had finally managed to break through and start attacking Pewter, coming toward the town and attacking.

Only, there as one thing they did not know about, that would change the face of the battle there.

"Here they come." Ralph's voice was soft as he watched the information of the small camera they had made sure to install near the city.

"Right. I'd say it's time to give them some trouble." Felicity approved, her voice coming over the radio system from the airship she had been assigned to command.

"You know, I think that we might as well do a little motto...just for ourselves, but still...dunno, would feel like...heartening." Jessie smiled.

"Why not?" Domino shrugged, and soon they all were approving. 

"They'd better prepare for trouble." Jessie started, old feelings coming back as Domino punched the command of the sleek black airship that had been Giovanni's personal mean of transportation.

"Not just any trouble, trouble that's double." James grinned as he added his line, and Jessie grinned back.

"To turn loose on their army some devastation." The voice was Thelma's, as the other airships took off below, mostly controlled by the onboard computers, but still with one of them in each.

"To protect from their madness all of our nation." Louise continued the line.

"To denounce the evil of their crazy beliefs" Ralph was definitely the one who had said that.

"To provide our allies with some deserved relief." Felicity completed.

"Jessie."

"James." 

"Thelma." 

"Louise."

"Ralph."

"Felicity."

"Mondo."

"Domino."

"Team Rocket, against all hope we're back and better."

"They'd better run now, we're coming for a slaughter!" 

"Persssssian, that's right!" Persian's voice came over the radio from the Viridian gym, completing the motto after Mondo and Domino had spoken.

Their powerful engines roaring, the six deadly airships headed east at full speed, slaughtering all airplanes that sought to intercept them.

__________________________

Eric Nelson was almost weeping in frustration, a sense of failure deep and devastating, the sense that despite all that he had done, he had not managed to do enough.

His troops were being somehow held at bay by the defenders of Pewter, or rather, had been, until the airships of the supposedly-dead Team Rocket had appeared over the battlefield, turning the situation from bad to worst. 

Now, it was all he could do to try to keep his forces from running back toward Cerulean, an hopeless attempt at escaping the slaughter, something that they could only hope to do by making it through the defense, or at worst by an orderly retreat, not a panicked flight.

Ethan Starkhad. It was all his fault, Nelson knew that. He had claimed that Team Rocket was destroyed, burned never to rise again, but somehow, they had come back. Somehow also, he had followed stupid pride rather than normal common sense, not listening to May as she had advised him to pull back, instead wanting only to increase his glory, to make her be wrong. And in the process, close to half of the Lotus army had been lost, numbers too great to be considered, troops that would have won them the day at Viridian with ease.

The battle was not going to turn, he admitted to himself, frustration bubbling deep inside, frustration and the hope that, wherever he was, Starkhad was getting some richly deserved punishment.

"Pull back." He ordered his troops finally, a single tear of frustration falling down on the ground. 

______________________________

All day and all night, fierce blasts of energy to the south, each one closer than the last, reminded them of the battle they would soon be in. As morning rose again, as the second day of the battle dawned on the battlefield, the trainers were starting to fight, as the Lotus inexorable advance continued. North, they had no idea what was happening, but south, they would soon be pushed back to Viridian.

Ash watched the assault in frustration. Their earthquakes, rockslide, hydro pump and fire blasts were not enough, nothing was. For each Lotus soldier that fell to their attacks, two more rose as they pulled back toward Viridian, knowing that at the end of the day, or at best, on the next morning, they would fight inside the city, and fight a loosing battle.

Ash watched in despair.

He had gambled, they all had. And they were loosing.

Chapter 30 : The Rising Sun

All the day, they had been pulling back, withdrawing, running. Trying to move to a place where they could make their stand, until they had finally reached Viridian. During the night, as shadows had covered their world, they had still been pulling back, though not fighting for their lives every step of the way.

And now, dawn found them again, in the streets of Viridian, ready to fight one last battle, street to street, in the buildings, from the sewers. A final stand, one that would hopefully buy them the time they needed for the Hoshoan to come and save the day.

Ash turned to look at his pokemon, all of them out. Khamul was there, a glowing orb of darkness, like all other Ghastly, yet somehow different, not to mention able to be understood by humans. Sora was there also, her fiery mane burning under the morning light, as did the tail flame of Deathwing. Close to deathwing, Celes was slowly cleaning her wings with her beak. Raiken, his eyes angry, stood on Ash's shoulder, while Rafael watched warily around them all. Fenrir and Esper stood close to Ash, as if they were seeking to protect him, while Ashura, his eevee, walked lazily around them all, her eyes shining with innocence, blissfully unaware of what was happening.

Before he had even the time to finish looking at his pokemon, the sound of battle filled the air as the attack on the city began. Pulling back with his pokemon in an alleyway, Ash watched as a squad of Lotus troops went by, their guns held ready.

"Raiken, thunderwave." He ordered, the crisp command followed by a wave of tiny bolts of thunders sent in the middle of the squadron of soldiers. Raiken grinned viciously as the soldiers found themselves barely able to move.

"Esper, give their brain a good frying." 

The psychic pokemon concentrated, sending a few beams of psychic energy at the squad, who soon took a dizzy look, as if they had no idea of what they were doing. Most of them did, anyway. 

"Sora, Deathwing, finish them. Fire blast, now." His final order was delivered through gritted teeth, anger bubbling in him, but over all, as he started to feel fear, fear that he was no longer disgusted by killing. He watched emotionlessly as they fell, as if he no longer knew them as human, or at least, as if part of him did, the part that felt. The group of soldier was consumed by the combined wave of flame, the extreme heat being too much for them to take.

"Good job Ash!" Misty yelled from an alley on the other side of the street, soon crossing with all possible speed to join him, Damian and Gary following, as well as Kyle, Elayne and Tanya.

"Thanks. It's not over yet."

"Right, there's a larger group coming this way." Gary confirmed.

"I'll take care of it." Kyle smiled and walked in the middle of the street, soon after followed by the apparition of a group of Lotus Soldiers, much larger, accompanied by a few tanks this time. 

"Uh...maybe you shouldn't stand in the middle of the way Kyle..." Ash tried to point out, but before he could even say anything, a flurry of gunfire came toward the young man.

The bullets rushed, their speed mind-numbing, but as they reached the young man, they all fell harmlessly to the ground, not even touching Kyle's skin as a screen of light came to be around the young man, a strange purple light.

"Now." He whispered, his voice low as he pushed back the hood of his cloak, revealing slightly shorter than shoulder-length jet-black hair, lavender eyes that were glowing with an holy fire behind their glasses, and an otherwise average face.

Besides him, and behind, shapes formed, indistinct at first, seemingly made of light, but soon appearing as what they really where, pokemon, literally an hundred of them, all fully evolved, all strange in shape and coloring, as if they had been altered, their very sight tugging at something in Ash's memory, something long forgotten.

Without a sound, the army of pokemon rushed at the lotus troops, swarming over them with flames, ice, thunder and water, destroying and slaying, killing and crushing. The large squad was caught aback by the fierceness of the sudden attack, dismayed b y the failure of their weapon to harm the young man. They did not flee, fighting to the last man, until all of them were slain on the battlefield as Ash and his friends watched puzzled. The pokemon scattered across the town to help in the battle, but even with them, it would not be enough to turn back the Lotus forces. A light started blinking on Ash's radio, and he picked it up, listening to Richie's voice coming from the far side of the town.

"Ash, we got a problem. A swarm of helicopter and jet fighters coming this way. Red markings, they have to be Lotus reinforcements." His friend reported, his voice hollow as always, as the face all around Ash became bleak. More Lotus troops meant sure defeat to them. Only Damian seemed not yet to fall in utter bleakness, snatching the radio away from Ash.

"Are you sure these are Lotus?" He asked. "Or are you just going with the idea that they are Lotus because of the red markings?" his voice was serious, his eyes eagerly awaiting for an answer.

"Red markings, they're too far to make out the shape." Richie replied quickly, apparently from his tone of voice wondering what had gotten Damian so excited.

"Good. Then, everyone, don't give up, we still have a chance, and fighting to do!" He yelled, leading them out in the streets.

___________________

They had not stayed in the street long, instead pulling back in one building where they could better coordinate their forces, from the top of the tall skyscraper. From it, they had a good ensemble view of Viridian below, and could better direct the trainers. And from it, too, they could keep track of the incoming group of planes and helicopters.

"They're coming closer." Damian said, and for once no one berated him for stating the obvious, as they were all too tense to even think about doing so.

"Any idea about their markings yet?" Ash asked him in passing, watching the fighting below.

"None so far." Damian's reply was short, to the point, for a change.

The city was burning, whether it be from the explosions created by Lotus weaponry or the sizzling attacks of fire pokemon, great pillars of dark smoke now rose in the sky, half a dozen of them now, more than barely a minute before. Fighting continued, bitter battles between small groups of trainers or league soldiers facing against equally small group of Lotus troopers, sometime with a tank. Generaly, the trainers were not doing too badly in each individual encounter, yet the simple fact was that the Lotus could keep throwing away littler group of soldiers until they had worn down all the group of trainers.

There was a sudden scream-like sound, that of a jet engine pushed at full power. Ash reflexively dove to the ground, watching as a pair of fighters flew by at a screaming speed, coming from the only blind side of the room they were in.

"Where did they come from?" Gary asked in a shaken voice.

"That's not important." Damian turned with a big grin on his face. "What's important is that these red markings weren't Lotus. They're rising suns."

"So? Red markings still means the Lotus...none of our allies use red..." Gary protested, but stopped as he saw Damian shakes his head.

"If it was anything on those except rising sun, I'd agree about them being Lotus. But the rising sun means something else entirely..." he said, managing to avoid explaining.

"What does it means?" Ash asked, cutting short all the useless talking.

"That the Hoshoan arrived a few days early. The Rising Sun is their symbol." Damian grinned. Ash felt his heart, his whole being lifting with joy. Against all hope, they had managed to hold off the Lotus army long enough, to win.

All around the city, explosions rocked the landscape as Hoshoan combat jet fired their powerful missiles at defenseless Lotus tanks, shredding them. Troops-loaded helicopters landed everywhere in the city, supporting the trainers in their fight for the town, slowly, inch by inch, pushing back the Crimson Lotus, gaining more and more speed, finally forcing the opposition in withdrawing.

Everyone fought side by side, Vermilion soldiers fighting side by side with trainers, Giovanni's troops pushing back the Lotus with the help of Sabrina's psychics. The league troops of both Johto and Kanto were everywhere, and the Hoshoan army led the charge.

_______________________________

May stared at the reports from the battle in rage, knowing they had lost, and that with all they had gambled, there would be no recovering from this, not for a long time. She had been defeated, overconfident, making the same mistake as Starkhad, though with much better reason to make the mistake, far fewer reasons not to make it. 

Looking at the pistol that hung from her belt, she remembered the rest of the training she had been given before being taught how to led, when she had been taught how to fight. Hesitating, she drew her weapons, and turned toward a few elite soldiers that had remained near her rather than joining the battle.

They knew of at least one place where the enemy army kept its leader, and she was determined that they at least would not see their victory. The place was still close enough to the Lotus line so that they would be able to reach it without too much trouble.

"Follow me." She ordered her men, leading them out. And within her, part of her screamed in horror at what she was becoming.

Soon enough, she had reached the command center of the so-called trainers force, and was slowly inching her way up the stairs, her troops following her.

__________________________

Ash and his friends were celebrating the victory that they had obtained against all hope, the return of peace that the defeat of the Lotus heralded. He held Misty close to him, their happiness shared with the embrace, feeling her close to him.

"I can't believe we did it..." Misty whispered to him softly, keeping him close, and he felt her shivering. Even with victory, the horrors they had both seen were far from banished from their memories, and there was no telling if they ever would be.

"Yeah...it seems so surreal..." He whispered back.

Around them, may trainers were dancing, chatting, partying. They had joined them on the upper floor of the tall skyscraper soon after the victory had become obvious, and the defeat of the Lotus sealed by the arrival of the Hoshoan army. 

Suddenly, with a sickening sound, the door burst open, leaving the passage open for a squadron of Lotus soldiers, and a figure he recognized all too well, one he had hoped he could avoid mentioning to Gary.

May Oak, the lotus officer he had fought at Maiden's Peak - and Gary's beloved sister. She slowly raised a pistol toward them, her hand negligently moving to send a psychic beam that threw one of the trainers who had joined them for the celebration down, out of the way.

"May..." Gary whispered, his eyes shocked, his face frozen in disbelief.

She fired once, as their pokemon rushed in to battle her few guards, two or three of them. They fought well, but were no match for the sheer elemental wrath of the creatures, and Ash watched with satisfaction as they were soon pushed back out of the way.

The pokemon, having repelled the troops, turned their attention toward the young woman who glared at them all, a look of madness in her eyes. She slowly aimed her gun at them, and started firing, with each shot killing one of them. AJ was one of those who fell early, to an unforgiving bullet in the head.

As more fell, Gary rose, his hands on the hilts of his blades, and he faced his sister.

_________________________________

Grief filled Gary as his sister fired relentlessly, grief at finding out what she had become, another of his loved ones lost to a corrupting power. Duplica had been killed, his sister had been corrupted by the Lotus, both of them falling to darkness while they had been close to him.

"Stop it May." He whispered, preparing himself to draw his two sword and defeat his sister with ease.

There were no answers, and he had expected none, knowing his sister was too far gone in her rage to stop because of his words. A bitter feeling filled him, as he realized that he would have to kill his sister if he wanted the least chance of surviving. His hands hovered over the hilts of his blades...

And froze, as he fought against himself to draw them. May whirled toward him, her guns ready to fire, and aimed. Gary simply watched the weapon, unable to draw his own. If he drew, he would fall to the kai powers, and save them all from the attacks, but on the other hand, he would also loose control - and eventually, there was no doubt that he would kill his sister.

He hesitated, fighting a deep inner battle between survival instinct and the will to avoid harming his sister, and he could see the same battle mirrored in his sister's eyes, as if she was fighting to push the madness out of her mind.

"Please May...stop it..." He whispered again, his eyes pleading.

For an only answer, she moved her gun closer to him, ready to fire, her eyes closed as if she was making a supreme effort of will to stop herself from doing so, an effort that still was not enough. He tried to draw his sword, still fighting with himself, but as his mind still fought, the sound of the gun filled the room, and pain filled his upper body as he fell to the ground.

May fell too, the gun dropping near her, to be picked up by Elayne, or at least someone who looked like her, according to what Gary's vanishing sight could tell him.

_______________________

May opened her eyes, wondering for the shortest instant where she was, remembering suddenly the madness, and what she had done. And the second she did so, her eyes fell on a form lying on the ground, bleeding, friends gathered around him.

Her brother. The one person that had the most influenced her to join the Lotus in the first place, because she felt as if pokemon had stolen him - and their grandfather - from her, taking away their whole life. And now, because of the Lotus, she had shot him, and he was obviously dying.

No, he could not be dying. There was no way that he could be, she would never be able to live with that. The ruthless general was gone from her spirit now, destroyed by the horror of what she had done, only leaving behind the fragile young woman. She pushed aside the trainers gathered around her brothers, who somehow did not fight back, barely noticing that one of them, Ash she realized, was signaling for them all to move out of the way.

"Gary...are you all right?" She asked, knowing the answer, knowing that he would never be all right again, fighting against the tears that filled her eyes.

He turned back to look at her, his eyes filled with pain beyond pain, a pain so great that there was no describing it.

"Stop...stop joking Gary..." She said, her voice panicked, knowing again that he was not joking, but still trying to deny that she had killed her brother.

" You know I'm not..." His voice was a hoarse whisper, a dying breath.

"Gary...please..." She took his head and cradled him in her arms, bitter tears falling from her eyes, tears of loss. "Please don't go...please..." 

"Sorry May...cya soon..." his head fell back as she felt his pulse slowly dying. The light in his eyes started to vanish, never to be seen there again, and May let out a wail of pure loss. A strange green light filled the room, it's gloominess somehow matching the feeling, and as the light lifted, her brother was nowhere to be found. Feeling empty, destroyed, May slowly rose, looking at the trainers though not really seeing them, thinking only of what she had done, of what she had lost. Some of them glared at her, murder in their eyes, but Ash seemed to be restraining them. Quickly, she snatched her gun back from the hand of the trainer who had picked it up when he had fallen.

Turning, she fired twice at a window, causing it to break, and she slowly pulled away from the trainers, keeping her gun toward them, knowing she would never fire, hoping they did not know the same, that they would not try to stop her.

Ash seemed to be the first to realize what she was up to, the first to see that she would not dare to fire at them. He raced toward her, but he was too late, the window was to close, the end too near.

With one last tear for her brother, she threw the gun toward them, and let herself fall out the window, praying that the end of the fall would also be the end of the pain, and the end of her broken life.

As she struck the ground, there was no more sound, no more vision, no more pain, no more life.


	7. Epilogue

Epilogue : Shallow Victory

One snowy day of February, around a small patch of ground that had been thawed by the constant works of a horde of fire pokemon, a group of trainers were gathered, trainers and others, watching as two coffins were slowly lowered in the earth. One was Gary's, whose noble death had become a symbol of courage for the trainers, the other was May's, whose role in the war had remained untold, only remaining to all but those who had been on top of the Skyscraper an innocent victim. They had all agreed it would be better that way, sparing the guilt to a family that had enough reason to feel depressed as was with the death of their only two children.

Ash looked sadly, feeling both pain at the loss of his best friend, but also a sharp pang of personal guilt at the loss of May, even though she had been the enemy. Before being the enemy, she had been a friend, more than that, his first crush, and though his heart belonged to Misty, there still had been lingering traces of affection for the young woman.

And then, there had been the look in her eyes, the wild look of unspeakable loss, but also the look of someone forced in something without understanding what was happening, and finally waking up from it - and realizing the horrors of what had happened. She had been a victim, that much was true, and somehow, just somehow, she had been the one to loose the much in them all. Her innocence, the life of her brother, but foremost, her soul, as if it had been ripped apart from her, forcibly replaced by another soul, darker, that of the general she had been. In the end, she had lost herself, lost her brother, and lost her life.

Trying not to think too much of the losses, Ash turned to thinking of the recent events. With the loss of most of their army at Viridian, they had been pushed back with ease, the trainers striking south and retaking Vermilion, the armies of Johto and Kanto striking east through the mountain to retake Celadon as the rockets and the gym leaders swung north in pursuit of the retreating northern Lotus force, swarming over Cerulean.

Even Brock's resistance group had participated in the counter attack, as they had fought their way in taking Lavender back by themselves, while the Hoshoan fleet had swarmed over Fuchsia, forcing the last remnants of the Lotus army to flee. There were no attacks on the Lotus headquarters, as much as many of them wanted revenge. Their armies were too weak after the fighting, they all needed the rest, and an assault on their headquarter would be costly, not to mention useless, as the Lotus was left without an army, or rather with the pathetic remnants of what had been an army. They were no longer a menace, and the fact was that by the time an assault could be mounted, they would probably have taken the time to move away.

He turned his eyes back toward the ceremony as the coffin was slowly lowered in the life, trying to keep the sense of loss away, loss of a friend, and also the loss of innocence that had accompanied May's death, the realization that the Crimson Lotus was not a faceless evil power, that the humans in it were not cruel people out to be evil, but rather people who really believed in what they were doing, or worst, had been led in following them by their feelings.

_______________________________

At long last, the funerals concluded, and the bystanders slowly left, followed by the Oak family, and only Ash and his friends were left standing in the cold graveyard. Misty had been weeping, her eyes red from it as he held her close to him, wanting only to feel the safety that came from being close to a loved one. Richie was white-faced, as always, and Damian seemed sad, though his seemed to be the sadness of one who had known what would come, but had been unable to alter it. Elayne had not wept as much as Misty, but she had still been weeping. As for the ever-mysterious Kyle, whose mystery had only grown with his feats during the battle, the hood of his cloak hid his face, concealing his emotions. For the brief moment that he had seen his face, he had been struck with an odd sense of familiarity, as if he knew the face from before in his life, though he could swear he had never see Kyle's face before. Melody, the last one there with them, had not wept at all.

"What are we going to do now?" It was Misty who put out the questions that they probably all were wondering about. Ash suddenly was finding himself with nothing to accomplish, his life-long dream accomplished, and the war he had been swept in over. "I mean, it's pretty much over for what we were trying to do...at least for Ash it is, and I don't see much point in wandering either now..." 

"We still have a lot to do." Damian answered. "Remember what my father said a year ago?" He asked them, and Ash fought to remember, finally bringing back the memory to his mind. The prophecy, of course. Back then he had refused to believe that there was a new war with the dark one coming, or that there had been one back then. Only, now, he knew it all to be true from the spirit of the dragonite, from the visions in the shrine.

"Yeah, about that prophecy. And I even know it's true now, thanks to that soul gift." He answered, earning himself curious looks from Misty and Richie.

"All right. Then I guess you know that the next confrontation will happen soon." Damian told him, though all of them listened closely to what he was saying. Ash nodded. "Now, have any idea about the names mentioned in that prophecy?" he asked, and when Ash shook his head, he started to answer.

"All right. There are the nine heroes. I won't mention them just yet. Asides from them there are a few "helpers" mentioned - the Summoner, the Neverborn and the Seeker." He detailed. "I have no idea who the Neverborn is, from what I heard I am pretty sure the summoner is here, And I know for a fact who the seeker is." He completed.

"Oh? Who is it?" Misty asked, her eyes curious, and Ash smiled, the answer becoming obvious all of a sudden.

"Me." Damian answered simply, looking at them all. "My job is to gather the nine and the three helpers. So far, I know where two of the nine are, and I suspect I know where the summoner is."

"Really?" Richie asked, his voice dead.

"Yes. Ash is one, the Child of the Dragon. I think he already know he is the Child of the Dragon, and that is one of the nine heroes."

Ash nodded, not really surprised. Combining the name that Aysen had given him with the knowledge he had gained from Tairan, it had been easy to piece together.

"Misty is another." Damian continued, looking at his sister with an expression that looked almost like sadness on her face, as if he would have rather kept his sister out of the war entirely. "The Lady of Mist, to be exact," He continued. "The prophecies about here - the part that I know - state that The Lady of Mist will go through fire and shadow to stand at the side of the child, bound there by a love that saved her. Misty went through that fire, became shadow, and she stands at Ash's side, and their love for each other played a huge part in saving her when she was Shadow." He explained, and Misty nodded, though her eyes seemed suddenly afraid, somehow. Ash held her tightly, 

"All right. And who would the summoner be?" Ash asked, and Damian didn't answer.

"Only makes sense, doesn't it? I suppose that's me." Melody stated, and they all turned toward her.

"Why?" Richie asked. "What makes you think that?" The voice was toneless, empty, as always, and again Ash looked at his friend worriedly.

"Well, when I used my music with Lugia, it was sort of like summoning him...and, besides which, do you have any idea whoever else it could be?"

"She's right, at least as far as I can see. She's the one I suspected, because the prophecies regarding the Summoner have her closely linked to the "bird of the moon", which appears to be a description only Lugia could fit." Damian nodded.

"Not to mention that the sea and the moon are closely linked, with the tides." Kyle added in. Ash nodded, this was another thing he had learned from the Soul Gift.

"Very well." He said, trying to come up with an idea what they should do next. "I think our next step is really the obvious one. We find the others." He stated simply. "The question is, who's coming with me, Damian, Melody and Misty?" he asked.

"I'll come." Kyle said, and though he was still unsure about trusting the young man, Ash had to agree that his powers would be extremely helpful on their quest.

"I guess I might as well tag along too." Richie added, turning his pale face toward Ash, and again Ash found himself looking worriedly at his friend. 

"I'll be there, of course." Elayne smiled, wrapping her arm around Damian's shoulders. The young man turned to look at his girlfriend as Ash turned toward Misty, bringing her closer to him.

"A flower of blood spread across the land, a rising sun washes the darkness. The hand of fate claim a victim already lost, blood calling to blood. The footsteps of destiny are heard. When the white cloak fall on the land again fates will wage war."

Selia, seeress of Johto, the Book of Twilight, as spoken in the city of Blackthorn in the 1005th years after the awakening.

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End file.
